When you hold a cup of hot cocoa made by yourself in your hands, you will feel as if your soul has been soothed. The great thing about making your hot cocoa is that you can add whatever ingredients you like, such as replacing the milk with a creamier ingredient, switching the milk to non-dairy milk, or adding mint or almond flavoring to create a cup with a unique flavor. You can also squeeze a little whipped cream over the hot cocoa. As long as you follow the method in the article, you will soon be able to drink hot cocoa that warms your hands and heart.

Classic Hot Cocoa

Pour the milk, sugar, and cocoa powder into the milk pot. Pour 950 ml of milk, 100 g of white sugar, and 25 g of unsweetened cocoa powder into a medium milk pot, and stir well.

• If you don’t have white sugar, you can substitute brown sugar, honey, or agave syrup. But these substitutions will introduce other flavors, so it’s best to add them according to your own taste.

Heat over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes. When the cocoa begins to bubble slowly, stir occasionally. If the liquid boils violently, immediately reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue to heat until the cocoa powder and sugar are completely dissolved.

• Stirring can speed up the dissolution of the cocoa powder and create bubbles on the surface of the liquid.
• When making hot cocoa, you have to keep an eye on the heating temperature. The milk must not boil, otherwise the milk at the bottom of the pot will burn.

Add the vanilla extract and stir well, then pour the hot cocoa into the mug. Turn off the heat, pour in 5 ml of vanilla extract or other flavorings and mix well. Mint, almond, or coffee flavors taste great with hot cocoa. Finally pour the hot cocoa into the mug.

• To make pouring the cocoa more convenient, it is recommended to use a long-handled ladle to scoop the cocoa into the mug.

Sprinkle some marshmallows on top of the hot cocoa before drinking, or squeeze a little whipped cream. You can enjoy hot cocoa as is, or for a sweeter flavor, try sprinkling some mini marshmallows or squeezing a dollop of fresh whipped cream into the cup.

• You can also sprinkle some cinnamon into the mug or hang a candy cane on the side of the mug.

Rich Version of Hot Cocoa

Chop 110 grams of bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate. Place the whole slab of chocolate on a cutting board and carefully cut into pieces no longer than 1cm on a side. The smaller you cut it, the less time it will take for the chocolate to melt.

• You can choose any flavor of chocolate, such as white chocolate or milk chocolate.
• If you want to make hot cocoa with sugar-free chocolate, add white sugar to your taste.

Heat the milk and salt mixture over medium heat. Pour 470 ml of milk, half milk, half cream, or light cream into the milk pot, then heat it over high heat. Add a pinch of salt to the milk while stirring. Continue heating until small bubbles appear on the surface of the milk.

• Stir the milk occasionally to prevent the milk at the bottom of the pot from burning.
• If the milk starts to bubble vigorously, immediately turn the heat to medium-low.

While stirring the milk, pour in the chopped chocolate. Stir constantly until the bittersweet or semisweet chocolate is completely melted. The chocolate in the milk will be lumpy at first, but as the chocolate melts completely, the liquid in the pan will become smooth. Heat continuously over medium heat until the chocolate is completely melted.

• Stirring the hot cocoa will create a few bubbles. If you like your hot cocoa completely smooth, stir the liquid with a wooden spoon.
• The time to melt the chocolate is determined by the size of the chocolate chunks.

Remove from heat, add vanilla extract, and stir well. Drop 3 ml of vanilla extract into hot cocoa, stir well, and taste. If you feel that the chocolate flavor is not strong enough, pour 14 grams of unsweetened chocolate powder into the hot cocoa and stir until completely dissolved.

• If you like your cocoa to have a slightly coffee flavor, add 1 gram of instant coffee to your hot cocoa along with vanilla extract.
• You can also adjust the sweetness of the cocoa at this step. If you find the cocoa to be too bitter, add more sugar and mix well.

Pour the hot chocolate into a mug and squeeze in some whipped cream. You can also sprinkle some chocolate chips, cocoa powder, or icing sugar on the whipped cream as a decoration.

• In addition to whipped cream, you can also sprinkle mini marshmallows on top of the hot cocoa.

Microwave Version of Hot Cocoa for One Person

Pour the cocoa powder, sugar, and salt into the cup. Pour 14g of unsweetened cocoa powder into a microwave-safe cup, then add 13g of sugar and a pinch of salt and mix well.

• If you think it’s not sweet enough, add 13 grams more sugar.

Pour in 240 ml of milk and stir evenly. Slowly pour a few spoonfuls of milk into the cup and start whisking to combine the cocoa powder and other ingredients into a smooth paste. Next, slowly pour in the remaining milk so the powder doesn’t clump.

• If you want a creamier flavor, use whipping cream or half-milk and half-milk instead of milk.

Place the cup in the microwave for 1 minute. Place the cup in the microwave and heat until the milk is hot and the cocoa powder begins to dissolve. This process takes about 1 minute.

• If the milk is still not hot enough after one minute, heat it for another 20 to 30 seconds.

Add some vanilla extract and stir well before drinking. Remove the cup from the microwave, being careful not to burn your hands. Next, gently stir in the hot cocoa. There should not be any lumps of powder left in the cocoa at this point. Pour in 1 ml of vanilla extract, stir well and enjoy.

• You can also grab a handful of mini marshmallows and throw them into your mug before drinking.

Tips

• Pour some malted milk into hot cocoa, the rich and smooth taste is simply amazing!
• Let the unfinished hot cocoa cool and refrigerate it, but drink it within three days. You can heat refrigerated cocoa in the microwave or on a gas stove.
• Add a few pinches of cayenne to hot cocoa for a unique kick to your taste buds.