Cocoa at the trade show.*
*I'm feeling pretty clever right about now. Seriously.
Read the title of this post out loud. It rhymes. The Killers should write a song about this. I was also feeling pretty clever one night last week. I had just finished setting up a trade show booth for a line of herb and vegetable plants I was partnering with to create recipes and videos, provide social media outreach and make live appearances to get folks excited about bringing fresh, delicious, homegrown ingredients into their kitchen and having some fun.
Leaving the show I grabbed two pots of a variety of mint called Mojito and brought them home to my #testkitchenTuesday team. After a fierce debate on how fresh summer herbs fit into mid-winter cooking, we developed a mint-infused hot chocolate. The mild spearmint flavor of Mojito mint was perfect, allowing rich chocolate flavor to take center stage. Only five minutes of steeping several sprigs in warm milk gave us just the right amount of mint flavor. Good news, because who wants to wait half an hour for a cup of cocoa?
Vanilla was the perfect finish, bringing out the coolness in mint, while cinnamon covered it up, so we left it out. In case you are wondering, yes, inspired by the name Mojito, we did try a steaming mug with a little splash of rum. It was delicious! Whether après ski or binge watching House of Cards on the couch, enjoy!
Minted Hot Chocolate
Makes 4-5 servings
Milk lightly infused with mint adds a cool, fresh twist to a classic mug of hot chocolate. Add rum for an adult treat!. This is loaded with fat and calories and that makes it taste good. If you need something lighter go ahead and mull some apple cider.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
5-6 sprigs fresh spearmint
2 tbs cocoa powder
Pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
Whipped cream
Directions:
Warm milk and sugar together in a 2 quart sauce pan placed over medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar. When bubbles appear around the edge of the pot, remove milk from heat and add mint. Steep for 5 minutes. Remove mint sprigs.
In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder and salt. Add 1/4 cup of the mint infused milk, and whisk until smooth, eliminating lumps.
Add cocoa mixture to remaining milk in saucepan along with vanilla. Whisk to combine. Warm to desired temperature and serve with freshly whipped cream.
