Saturday, March 11, 2017

Homemade-nutella hot chocolate with whipped cream

I don’t eat sweets regularly —even though I have a sweet tooth and I’m crazy about chocolate and Greek syrup desserts like baklava and galaktoboureko— and when I do eat them, I only have a small portion. This wasn’t always the case, I used to eat lots of sweets every single day which I finally realized wasn’t good for me and stopped.




Because of this, I have re-calibrated my palate, and now I don’t need a lot of sugar, honey or any other sweetener for something to taste sweet to me. Take for example Nutella. I used to love the stuff, which is full of sugar and cloyingly sweet, but ever since I stopped eating it and started making my own, I can’t eat Nutella anymore at all. I only eat my very own version of it that’s indeed far better. It’s not too sweet and it’s the real thing, with the pure and full flavor of hazelnuts and chocolate.




I’ve been making my own Nutella for quite some time now and apart from eating it straight from the jar, I’m invariably using it in all sorts of desserts and drinks, like this creamy and rich hot chocolate which is truly fantastic.




Besides my homemade chocolate and hazelnut spread, I add a little Frangelico to it which enhances the flavor of the nuts even more and I serve it topped with freshly whipped cream and a generous sprinkling of dark chocolate shavings, no less than 70% cocoa solids to give it a proper chocolaty boost.

Perfect for a Sunday afternoon, isn’t it?









Homemade-nutella hot chocolate with whipped cream

You could have this without the whipped cream of course, but its addition really adds a richness of texture and flavor to the beverage that’s quite marvelous.

Apropos of nothing, I never thought my laziness could lead to a revelation and a discovery of the most fluffy yet sturdy and smooth whipped cream, made with a food processor, but yes, that’s what happened. And from now on, whenever I need to make a small batch, I will only use my food processor. Read below how to make it too.

If by any chance you use store-bought chocolate-hazelnut spread that is far sweeter than my homemade version, you will need to add less of it to the beverage.




Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients
2 cups (500 ml) fresh whole milk
4 heaped Tbsp homemade hazelnut-chocolate spread (homemade Nutella), at room temperature
2 Tbsp Frangelico or other hazelnut liqueur

to serve
Freshly whipped cream (see below hot to make it yourself using full-fat fresh cream)
Grated/shaved good quality dark chocolate (70% coco solids)
Demerara sugar or any other sugar you prefer (optional)

Special equipment: small food processor (to make the whipped cream)


Preparation

make the whipped cream
In a small food processor, add the cream (you’ll need no more than 100 ml for two servings) and process for a few seconds until it thickens and becomes fluffy and creamy. Be careful because the food processor is powerful and the cream doesn’t need a lot of time to whip up. It takes seconds to become proper whipped cream.

make the hot chocolate
In a small saucepan, add the milk and heat over a medium heat until it starts to bubble at the edges. Turn the heat off and add the homemade Nutella and the Frangelico. Mix well with a small whisk to combine the ingredients and melt the Nutella. Give it a taste to see if it has gotten cold and if it has, heat it up again but don’t boil it. If you want, you can add the sugar at this point as well. Pour into jugs and top with freshly whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
Drink immediately and enjoy!!




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