Recipe: Wittamer Hot Chocolate

About 4 Mugs

This recipe is from Michael Lewis-Anderson, the chocolatier at Wittamer chocolate shop in Belgium, one of my favorite chocolate shops in the world. Michael is a true master of chocolate and sports a terrific and rather wicked sense of humor: he once created a life-sized replica of Cher out of pure dark chocolate for the window of their chocolate boutique, which stunned and amused the staid patrons of Brussels. Michael contributed this recipe for The Great Book of Chocolate.

Although Belgians like their chocolate rich, if you prefer you can use whole milk instead of the half-and-half. And to ward off any winter chills, I suspect few adults would object to sneaking in a warming shot of dark rum or cognac.

1 quart half-and-half (or whole milk)

8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

4 ounces top-quality milk chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In a saucepan, heat 1 cup of half-and-half (or milk) with the dark and milk chocolates. Stir until melted. Add the remaining 3 cups of half-and-half and the cinnamon and heat.

2. Stir briskly with a whisk or use an immersion blender to make the hot chocolate completely smooth.

If you wish, add a shot of good dark rum or cognac, or a few drops of vanilla extract.

At Wittamer, this hot chocolate is spooned into mugs and served with a swirl of whipped cream and lacy chocolate curls. I take the all-American route (or that of a noted Miss, who is Swiss) and float a few marshmallows on top.