CHOCOLAT CHAUD

   As many of you already know, I am a big espresso drinker.  I start off each and every morning with a cappuccino.  Many days I follow that with another in the early afternoon.  But once the weather turns colder and the snow (or freezing rain as it's doing today) begins to fall, I start thinking about hot chocolate.  I actually have boxes of hot chocolate mix from France stacked in my pantry.  Every time I visit Paris I bring more home with me.  Although the boxed hot chocolate is better than most you are able to buy here in the States, nothing beats making your own.  If it's just me at home alone on a snowy afternoon I'll add the chocolate mix to the milk, but if it's a special occasion with family or good friends, I like to make my own hot chocolate.  The following recipe is from French pastry chef Pierre Hermé who developed chocolat chaud recipes for Parisien patisseries Fauchon and Ladurée.  WARNING:  It is very rich!  You may not want to eat anything else the rest of the day!  But once in a while that's o.k., isn't it?

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                                             CHOCOLAT CHAUD
                       adapted from Pierre Hermé, printed in Vogue February 2000

• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup bottled still water
• 1/4 cup (generous) superfine granulated sugar
• 1 100-gram bar (3 1/2-ounces) dark bittersweet chocolate, Scharffen Berger, Valrhona, or Lindt, chopped with a serrated bread knife
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder loosely packed ( 1-ounce or 28-grams), preferably Valrhona

1.  In a 2-quart saucepan, stir together the milk, water and sugar.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Add the chopped chocolate and the cocoa and bring to a boil again, whisking until the chocolate and cocoa are dissolved and the mixture has thickened.  Reduce the heat to very low. 
2.  Blend for five minutes with an immersion mixer or whisk hot chocolate in a standard blender for a half minute until thick and foamy.
                                Yield:  four six-ounce cups of hot chocolate