Orange Hot Chocolate

Your ultimate winter comfort drink made with whole milk, high quality chocolate bars and splash of orange liquor!

First of all, let me start with saying how these photos drive me nuts!! THE MESS, I mean! It was totally unintentional, I promise. Apparently, when you add whipped cream to an already full cup of hot chocolate, it overflows! (insert eye roll emoji here) Thank goodness for those saucers!!

Anyway, the mess doesn’t stop me from drooling though. This’s a cup of delicious soul-warming, toe-curling ultimate winter drink. ORANGE HOT CHOCOLATE, y’all! Yep, all caps are absolutely necessary.

Nostalgia at its peak! My mom used to spoil us with hot chocolate quite often when we were kids. Whenever we show the slightest symptoms of cold, a pot of milk will be placed on the stove and mom will bring us a cup of hot milk with chocolate stirred in it. The best feeling ever! And I was just talking to my little sister via Skype this morning and we were reminiscing that precious time. Can I be a kid again, please?

Now, today’s hot chocolate is a little different from my mom’s version. We are adding orange flavor and spiking it with orange liquor. Grown-up version, if you will. Oh so gooooood!

Initially, I was planning to make my minty version, but I just happened to have snacked on orange chocolate before I made this. And in just split second, I switched my gears and made orange hot chocolate. Comforting, warm and nostalgic drink! What could be better?

Whole milk (no skim milk here, pretty please!), high quality chocolate bars (I love Ghirardelli), orange zest and Grand Marnier! I don’t even know how to describe this drink. With the very first sip, you get this warm and fuzzy feeling! Oooh-la-la. You know what I mean? If not, just go ahead and make this drink, and you will know what I mean. 😉

This is not one of those ultra-thick, rich kind of hot chocolate. (<- For the record, I have nothing against lava-like, rich hot chocolate!) I like to think this orange version is nicely balanced. Perfectly chocolatey, yet not overly thick that you can’t enjoy it beyond one sip.

Grand Marnier is totally optional too. It’s plenty zesty without it.

Despite the mess, I really couldn’t stop taking photos of these beauties, and then I couldn’t decide which ones to eliminate. So here you have it, all of them, from different angles!

Now sip-sip!

Orange Hot Chocolate

Your ultimate comfort winter drink made with whole milk, high quality chocolate bars and splash of orange liquor!

serves: 4 cups

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Ingredients

• 1 orange
• 4 cups 960ml whole milk
• 12 oz 340gr high quality semi-sweet chocolate
• 4 oz 115ml Grand Marnier (orange liquor)
• Small pinch of salt
• ½ cup 120ml heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Note: I test all my recipes with both measurements for the most precise and accurate result!

Instructions

• Zest the whole orange with a microplane. Cut the orange in half and juice it. You should get at least 2 teaspoons of zest and 3 tablespoons of juice. Set aside.
• In a medium pot, simmer the milk and orange zest over medium high heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the chocolate until it’s melted. Remove from heat and add a small pinch of salt (it sharpens the flavor nicely) and orange liquor.
• While the milk is simmering, whip the heavy cream using an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and 3 tablespoons of orange juice and continue to whip until hard peaks form.
• Divide the hot chocolate into 4 cups and top with orange whipped cream. If desired, sprinkle some orange zest and chocolate curls*. Enjoy!

* Disclaimer: All nutrition information are estimates only. Read full disclosure here.

Author: Shinee

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