Iced chocolate
Hard as it is to believe, I have a few extra chocolates lying around. Because it’s almost summer and I’m getting ready for my very own mash-up – An American Under a Hot Zinc Roof in Paris – I need to start using up all of my chocolate, pronto, before the annual summer meltdown commences.
Sometime a while back, I recall reading about a Frrrozen Hot Chocolate served at Serendipity in New York City. The recipe was published in a variety of places, and what stood out for me was the fact that it called for using ‘chocolates’ in their beverage. As in dipped chocolates, not chopped up chocolate.
Unlike other people who wax nostalgic, I don’t have any memories of Serendipity, fond or otherwise, but I imagine they came up with the idea of using chocolates in a beverage as a way of taking care of scratched or dented leftover chocolate they might have had around. Either than, or before they opened in New York City, the shop was located in a small, rooftop apartment in Paris with a zinc roof whose internal temperature regularly zooms well above 100ºF (38ºC) in the summer.
And as much as I liked the idea, their brew called for a scant amount of “hot cocoa mix”, just 2 teaspoons and that just doesn’t do it for me. Why use “mix” when you can just take the express route and use cocoa powder? So I got a little serendipitous and piled in a lot more chocolates than were called for. Heck, I pretty much skirted the entire recipe and just added what I thought would make a decent iced chocolate; a small box chocolates, cocoa powder, milk, and a few scoops of ice cream or sorbet.
Iced Chocolate
- 3/4 cup (180ml) whole or lowfat milk
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened, cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process
- 8 ounces (115g) chocolates or 4 bittersweet or semisweet chocolate,, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces, 175g) ice cubes
- 2 to 3 scoops chocolate ice cream , or chocolate sherbet
- optional: 1 to 2 tablespoons Kahluà or espresso, (cooled), or to taste
- Lightly sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings, for serving
- In a small saucepan, heat two-thirds of the milk with cocoa powder, just until it begins to boil. Remove from heat and drop in the chocolates, stirring until the chocolates are melted and smooth. Let mixture cool to room temperature.
- Using a blender, mix the chocolate mixture and the rest of the milk with the ice cubes and ice cream or sorbet (and Kahluà or espresso, if using) until completely smooth.
- Divide into two glasses, top each with whipped cream and shaved chocolate.
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