A Christmas Gift!

There is nothing like A REAL hot Chocolate, made with Chocolate!

The foto is from a tiny bar in Erice where we went in search of the famous Maria Grammatica’s pastry shop.
We stopped at the first sign we found saying they served Maria’s pastries, and our friend from Gusto in Trapani had told us we MUST have hot chocolate at Maria’s/

This hot chocolate must have had a WHOLE bar in per cup of milk.. it was pudding and with the pastries.. almost overkill.. almost!
Then walking out of the bar, we found the pastry shop itself!

More on that later.

My friend Leonardo Vestri shared his recipe with me.
and the secret is using real chocolate.
I like to use a really fabulous chocolate at least 60%.

Here’s the recipe!
5 tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa powder (Hershey’s European Style, Van Hooten, or Droste)
2 tablespoons sugar
6-8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 cups milk

Chili powder ( optional)

Place the cocoa powder, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of the milk in a saucepan and heat until the sugar melts, stirring well to remove any lumps. Boil and add the remaining milk. Heat to steaming, always whisking to incorporate the chocolate mixture.
Turn off the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Stir to melt the chocolate and let it sit. Reheat to serve, stirring well before serving.

Vestri serves the hot chocolate with a pinch of chili powder, or ginger if you like. You can also be really decadent and have your Vestri’s ice cream, affogato, drowned in hot chocolate! ‘Tis the season…to enjoy!