This Creamy Spiced Hot Cocoa was a classic at home when I was growing up. We had it for breakfast (or dinner) often, and it was always a comforting drink. I find it’s perfect for this time of the year.
“Ya se siente la brisa” (we can feel the breeze) is the Dominican phrase we use to signal the change in the season and the general atmosphere of the holidays. Not having much of a winter, we still enjoy cooler temperatures, shorter days, and general merriment. Time to dust off baking utensils, hot drinks and long cooking.
I know that I’ve been a bit (warning: understatement!) slow posting to the blog lately. Mea culpa. I promise I’ve been working every bit as hard as always on it. If you follow us on social media (and I don’t see why you wouldn’t), you’d notice that I’ve been posting lots of new videos of old and new recipes.
We get requests for videos all the time, so I’m only following your lead. Here’s the glitch: As a professional photographer, I can find my way around a camera and light. Video, however, is a different language. I’m trying hard to learn fast when life and job aren’t getting in the way. So I’m creating videos and learning how to make them at the same time. Not an easy task for this old brain.
If you check the video section, you’ll see that we’ve added more than 30 new videos to our recipes lately. More are coming, but this is the first recipe that has come out with a video at the same time. Sure, it’s an easy one, but I hope you’ll like it anyway.
Back to the recipe…
My mom didn’t add ginger to it; this is something I tried myself and liked. It’s quite subtle, nothing like Ginger Tea, but this being the holiday season, you know ginger has to be part of it. It works.
Ah, and thanks to Aunt Ilana’s husband for bringing me a Batata Asada (Roasted Sweet Potato) from El Cibao. Talk about flashbacks, this is exactly the kind of breakfast my grandma used to make too.
Buen provecho!
Aunt Clara
- 3 cups of evaporated milk
- 6 cloves
- 2 tablespoons of corn starch
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 2 sticks of cinnamon
- 4 slices of fresh ginger root
- 1/2 cup of chopped unsweetened chocolate , or cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups of water
-
Mix all the ingredients, heat over low heat and simmer stirring until it starts to thicken a bit (about 10 mins, from the time it breaks a boil). Sieve and serve.
Can I ask why the cornstarch? what does it do? I don’t understand its purpose in cooking
It’s a thickener.
Where do you get those mugs! Pretty!
Amazon. 🙂
Oh dear ! What a great reminder of my childhood as well 🙂 Great photos too ! Thank you and have a pleasant day !
You are doing an amazing job on creating the videos. Recipe looks amazing. So comforting and can’t imagine how great it smells and taste. Thank you.
Thanks so much. I am very glad you found it useful.