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
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
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!
Tips & Notes
Nutrition
Oh My. This looks divine. I’m lactose intolerant so I can’t have milk…but I’m going to try this with coconut milk!
I’m sure it’ll be just as great with coconut milk as with regular one. Thank you, Lauren.
I love the sound of orange hot chocolate and would add a little orange extract in place of the Grand Marnier for a treat my whole family would enjoy.
That sounds great, Tonia! Perfect kid-friendly version.
This looks amazing! Beautiful photos! I’m enjoying a cup of cocoa right now, but yours looks 10 times more decadent!
Thank you, Michelle!
OMG…the decadence spills out of those mugs.
Haha I know, right? I swear, it was totally unintentional. 🙂
Oh my goodness! Yum! It’s summer here in Australia, but I still want this right now! Looks amazing!
Thank you, Lucy! It sure is delicious. 🙂
This hot chocolate looks so yummy. i just love hot chocolate this time of year.
Thank you, Chineka!
Hot chocolates are something that I always make Christmas eve for supper.. I’ve been looking for a unique and delicious recipe and think I have found it with this recipe. Never see an orange flavoured hot chocolate before! Thanks for the idea Shinee!
These flavors work so perfect together. I’m sure you’ll love it. Thanks, Thalia.
ORANGE HOT CHOCOLATE?!!! love this!!! and yes, I agree, when orange hot chocolate is involved, all caps are absolutely necessary. love love love the Grand Marnier!!! perfection!
Grand Marnier is so good. Glad we agree! 🙂 Thanks, Alice.
That looks luscious. Chocolate and orange is a classic Christmas time combination in the UK confectionary. If it works in a chocolate bar it can’t be too bad to drink.
Thank you! It was definitely delicious to drink, just like the orange chocolate bars. 🙂
I love this!! I have seen so many peppermint ones – orange is definitely more up my alley! Thanks for sharing this!!
Yeah, peppermint ones are pretty hot right now, but orange hot chocolate is quite seasonal too, right? 🙂 Thanks, Nagi!