Campfire Cooking

This one could be made over a fire, but it's probably easier on a stovetop for
a warm wintertime treat ...


18th C. French Hot Chocolate
(Borrowed from "King's Corner with Chef Zak King" in a recent edition of
Hidden Dirk Mercantile's monthly enewsletter, www.hiddendirk.com.
Used with permission.)


Here’s what you’ll need:

9 ounces of unsweetened chocolate
(a bar would be fine, but I find the chips
melt more evenly and more quickly)
1/3 cup of sugar (depending on your taste)
1/4 cup (or 2 ounces) of heavy cream
– hey, I said it’s tasty, not fat free!
Whipped cream for topping (optional)
Liqueur (also optional)
4 1/4 cups of hot water
A stove
A pot of boiling water (or a double boiler if you have one)
A heat proof bowl (I prefer stainless steel)
A whisk
Mugs

To make this deliciousness:

Melt your chocolate in the top of your double boiler if you have one. If you
don’t have a double boiler, place your stainless steel (or heat resistant) bowl
over a pot of boiling water – it will work just the same.
NOTE: Make sure you keep your chocolate moving with your whisk or it might
burn…believe me, that doesn’t smell very good.

Add 1/4 cup of hot water to help dilute the chocolate and keep stirring.

Add the remaining 4 cups of hot water and bring the whole mix to a boil.

Remove the mixture from the heat (carefully).

Add the sugar and stir until the sugar is fully dissolved.

Stir in the liquid cream.

If you want to add your favorite liqueur, now is the time. (In the 18th-
century, Hot Chocolate was an “adults only” beverage, so don’t feel too guilty
about not sharing with the kiddies.)

Once it’s flavored to your taste, pour into your mugs, and top with
whipped cream. This does make for a very rich hot chocolate. In the 18th
century chocolate houses, hot chocolate was served so thick and rich that it
needed to be served with glasses of chilled water to “balance out the
experiance.” You might find a glass of cold water might be just the thing to
add the finishing touch to this historic drink.
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