You know those recipes that you’ve been meaning to try but never really get around to making? Well I have tons of those. So many that if I started cooking non-stop right this very minute, I still don’t think I’d ever get to them all (I mean that, because with a recipe database like this to back me up, how could I not?)

But there is one recipe I’ve been planning on trying that is so simple, I’ve really had no excuse. And on a night like last, frigid with single digit temperatures, what could be better than a warm mug of white hot chocolate?

I’m dedicating this post to a friend who is allergic to chocolate. A newfound and tragic allergy, I think sharing this recipe with her will help to counteract some of her winter cravings for hot cocoa, that is, if she enjoys it as much as I did.

I started off with quality ingredients. The recipes calls for the best quality white chocolate you can find and Ghirardelli did just the trick.

The first step is to heat up the milk and vanilla extract until the milk just starts to steam.

The recipe then calls for finely chopped white chocolate so while I waited, I began chopping away. I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing and wound up chopping with a dull knife on a napkin (I’m really not sure why).

I wound up with what you see in the last photo and added it to my now steaming milk. The next instruction was to whisk. While I knew this was coming, I failed to get out my whisk beforehand.

Originally assuming it was more conveniently located than was the case, I began panicking when I couldn’t find it as the milk steamed away. When we finally found it (yes I needed help), it was a mess and I had to clean it…gah! No time! But being the germophobe that I am, a mediocre cleaning job would not suffice. So I turned the milk all the way on low and did my thing.

And then, finally, I whisked:

And while I whisked, I noticed that the mixture still just looked like milk. Was the white chocolate working? I wondered. So I added more, this time having no patience for chopping.

But you might notice that by this time, the mixture resembled white chocolate more than before. The white chocolate had risen to the top in the time it took me to go break off another piece. Oh well, the more the merrier!

It turned out creamy and delicious, and I would definitely make it again and again!

But I wasn’t quite finished yet - I decided it needed something more. I wanted to top it with nutmeg but we didn’t have any, and cinnamon seemed like an awkward combination. So (and forgive me Kris) I went with cocoa powder.

There we go: deliciousness in a mug.

White Hot Chocolate
From Recipe4Living.com

This recipe can be halved or quartered depending on how many people you’re making this for. I wound up using 1/4 of the ingredients myself as I just made one cup. Make sure to use the same amount of vanilla extract though for any version of the recipe. Top with nutmeg or cocoa powder for decoration.

Ingredients

1 qt. milk
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4 oz. best-quality white chocolate, finely chopped

Directions

In a medium saucepan, heat milk and vanilla over medium heat just until milk begins to steam, 5 to 6 minutes. Add white chocolate, and whisk until completely melted and combined. Divide among four mugs; serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Enjoy!

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Tags: hot chocolate, white chocolate, white hot chocolate

Posted by Hillary, 11:30 AM

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 11:30 am and is filed under white chocolate, winter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.