Hot Chocolate

Before embarking on my new dairy- and wheat-free life, my boyfriend and I had a Sunday paper tradition of hot chocolates and croissants. Making croissants without butter and flour has me stumped so far, though I will keep trying, but I did find a replacement for hot chocolate. Before stumbling on this recipe I had been making a sorry excuse for hot chocolate with dairy-free chocolate syrup and almond milk that failed to recreate the thick and foamy hot chocolate that I remember. But now (and without any obscure ingredients I might add) I can make hot chocolate that coats the back of a spoon and is so thick it is really just a few hours of refrigeration away from becoming a pudding. Which is important, because I often need a bit of pudding to get over having had a hot chocolate without whipped cream. I have started to make marshmallows and scatter them across the top, especially if I'm drinking out of a cafe latte bowl which has an enormous brim and can carry a substantial number of marshmallows and even, if I'm so inclined, a little extra sauce drizzled on the top. 

This recipe is inspired and adapted from Melissa Clark's  02.06.09 article for The New York Times. 

INGREDIENTS:

3 tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder (the best you can afford, though as I often forget about this tradition until the dog is barking at the newspaper delivery man, I am usually using whatever the corner store has stocked on Sunday morning)

1 can of coconut milk

1/4 c. brown sugar

a few sloshes of pure vanilla extract

1/4 c. chopped dairy-free chocolate (I have used everything from left over Easter candy to truffles from a house guest) 

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the coconut milk with the sugar and then then add both of the chocolates until they are all melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla. Adjust sweetness to taste. 

You can keep this in the fridge and reheat as you wish.