Ann Reardon

The best home-made hot chocolate ever

 

The search for the best hot chocolate recipe has taken me years. I’ve tried every powdered version available at the shops. I have made many of the recipes that can be found online, and none of them were worth mentioning. But then I came across this 100 year old recipe which, in my sons words, “is the best hot chocolate that I have ever tasted”.

It was so good that I made a video just to share it with you.

hot chocoatle recipe the best ann reardon

Here is the recipe as featured in the 100 year old cookbook:
Choice Recipes by Miss Maria Parloa specifically prepared for Walter Baker & Co Ltd.
PLAIN CHOCOLATE

For six people, use one quart of milk, two ounces of Water Baker & Co.’s Premium No.1 Chocolate, one tablespoonful of cornstarch, three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and two tablespoonfuls of hot water.
Mix the cornstarch with one gill of the milk. Put the remainder of the milk on to heat in the double-boiler. When the milk comes to the boiling point, stir in the cornstarch and cook for ten minutes. Have the chocolate cut in fine bits, and put put in a small, iron or granite-ware pan; add the sugar and water, and place the pan over a hot fire. Stir constantly until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Add this to the hot milk, and beat the mixture with a whisk until cut is frothy. Or, the chocolate may be poured back and forth from they boiler to pitcher, holding high the vessel from which you pour. This will give a thick froth. Serve at once.

home made hot chocolate recipe

My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

22 Comments View Comments

  1. Rating: 5

    Here’s my conversion and Thermomix method!
    I loved this so much, will definitely make again. I used Whittaker’s Dark Ghana, 72% cocoa solids, it looked like the one Ann used in the video. But I found it a bit too sweet so I think you could use darker chocolate or a bit less sugar. It really is very good, quite thick and rich (but not too rich) and surprisingly chocolatey for not having much chocolate in it!

    For 6 people

    1L milk
    60g dark chocolate (highest % cocoa solids you can find), chopped finely
    1 tbsp cornstarch
    3 tbsp caster sugar
    2 tbsp hot water

    Method

    Mix together 100ml milk + cornstarch in a small bowl.

    Pour remainder of milk into a very large saucepan on low heat. When milk comes to boil, stir in cornstarch mixture. Cook for 10 minutes – this cooks the cornstarch and evaporates milk.
    Thermomix: Varoma, 20 mins, stir

    In a separate bowl, mix chocolate, sugar & hot water, microwaving to melt and combine.

    Stir chocolate mixture into milk – whisk until combined and frothy.
    Thermomix: Insert butterfly, speed 5, 15 secs

    • that you so much

  2. Rating: 5

    I have not made it yet,but I wanna try! It looks amazing! I ❤ your videos <3

  3. Rating: 1

    it was so gross I did not like it at all

  4. Rating: 5

    Hi, would like to make this. Is the chocolate like 70% ? Would like a recommendation on a chocolate to try.
    Really like your videos.

  5. Rating: 5

    Your son’s not wrong, this was the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had!

    • Although… I just got to the bottom of the cup. It’s a little bitty. I guess the cornflour not properly dissolved?

  6. Rating: 4

    Hello, y found an error, you write “Water Baker” insted of “Walter Baker”, and can you put the recepy in metric sistem?
    I love your videos, you are awesome :3

    • funny you found an error with spelling and made an error in the system 🙂 i don’t think it’s necessary to point it out either way.

  7. Rating: 5

    Awesome recipe! Can’t wait to try!

  8. Rating: 5

    My husband would like to know why Dave didn’t get to try this recipe?! Poor Dave, he only gets to try the ones that are not so good! : )

    • Rating: 5

      he probably did just off screen (not shown in the video)

  9. Rating: 3.5

    Can you make it for one person

    • Rating: 5

      I made this myself just now and halved the recipe. It made two full coffee cups. A quart is a little over a litre so I used a little over two cups of milk (two cups in the pot and a splash in a cup to dissolve the cornflour).
      The other measurements are a little trickier. Two ounces is about 60 grams. I used 40 grams of Lindt 70% dark because 30 didn’t seem like enough. You can get rough with the sugar as it’s really a matter of taste. I used 1.5 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of water. It turned out great! Thick and creamy and rich.
      10/10 will make again in the wintertime

    • Don’t give a bad review unless you have tested the recipe yourself. Giving a 3.5-star rating was really a selfish move. I suggest you refrain from repeating that.

  10. Rating: 5

    That was great! I also love hot chocolate!

  11. Rating: 5

    It’s usually given as percentage on the cover (at least in Germany), like 40, 60, 80, 90%. The higher values are often refered to as ‘bitter chocolate’.

  12. Rating: 5

    Hello, wanted to ask how we check how much cocoa solids is in a particular chocolate?

  13. Rating: 5

    Hi Anne,
    Just wondering how do you prevent the milk from burning? You didn’t address the issue in the video

    • Rating: 5

      Use a double boiler, as the recipe says. It takes a longer time to heat up, but no burning.

    • Stir it so the protein does not burn on the bottom of the pan

    • Rating: 5

      Almost constantly whisking while the milk is boiling will prevent this

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