It’s A Beautiful Drink

“Chocolate in general appeals on the basis of color and sugar intensity,” explains Davenport, a third-generation chocolatier and president of Dilettante Chocolates. “We want to provide choices.”

Guests can select hot chocolate made from molten chocolate, chocolate truffles mixed with cream or from cocoa. Options exist within each category.

Molten chocolate drinks come in white, milk and dark chocolate varieties. “And once people get used to the choices, they start mixing and matching,” says Davenport. “They’ll ask for two pumps of milk chocolate, one pump of dark chocolate.”

A 3 1/2-ounce Cioccobreve, made with molten chocolate and half-and-half “goes down like silk.”

“It’s a beautiful drink,” boasts Davenport, who is equally proud of his Ciocco Grande, a drink that allows diners to add the molten chocolate of their choice to steaming mugs of milk.

“That’s for people who want to make an extended occasion out of their hot chocolate,” he explains.

Children don’t dawdle over chocolate. But grown-ups, increasingly, are doing just that.

Homemade Gourmet Hot Chocolate

Creamy hot chocolate is comforting on a cold fall or winter night, and it's a sweet and tasty treat any time of the year. Gourmet hot chocolate with hints of vanilla, caramel, almond, cinnamon, or Irish mocha are even more delectable, and they're all very easy to make at home. It isn't necessary to spend a small fortune on packets of gourmet hot chocolate when the homemade variety is just about as easy to make. Better yet, homemade gourmet hot cocoa is much richer and tastier than anything you'll ever find in a dry mix. Try these ideas for homemade gourmet hot chocolate next time you want a hot chocolate drink. You'll never want ordinary hot chocolate again!

Homemade Gourmet Cocoa
For three large mugs of homemade gourmet hot cocoa you'll need 1 ¼ cups of boiling water, ¼ cup of unsweetened baking cocoa, a dash of salt, ¼ cup of granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 3 cups of milk, and ¾ teaspoon of vanilla extract.

In a medium saucepan, combine the water, cocoa, cinnamon, and sugar. Slowly bring it to a simmer, and stir the mixture until it's well blended before removing it from the heat. In a separate pan, warm the milk over a low setting, just until it's hot enough to drink. Remove the milk from the heat source, and slowly stir in the cocoa mixture. Lastly, stir in the vanilla. Place a lid on the pan, and allow it to sit for about 10 minutes before serving or adding one of the following gourmet flavor options.