Chocolate Caliente (hot chocolate) is a classic in every Colombian's breakfast table; however, there's an addition that you might not expect! We love to add extra spice to our food and drinks. That's why our hot chocolate is always made with cinnamon, cloves and panela. Much like a well rounded cup of coffee, these extra spices elevate the taste of cacao. What else could be missing in our brew, though?
In Colombia we don't add marshmallows to our hot chocolate. We add cheese! Although it sounds unusual, think of all the great combinations of salty and sweet that already exist. The most popular in the UK being salted caramel. Little bits of cheese are added to each cup, slowly releasing salty kicks of flavour into an already rich drink. This means that by the end of your cup, you'll be rewarded with slightly melted, salty-sweet bits of cheese.
Colombian Hot Chocolate Recipe
Here's a quick guide on how to make Chocolate Caliente, the Colombian way. You'll need:
Chocolate Caliente (ours already comes with cinnamon, cloves and panela)
Your milk of choice
Cheese (we use 'doble crema' or double cream cheese, but you can replace this for your favourite creamy cheese. We recommend Port Salut or Mozzarella)
Chocolatera & Molinillo (or a pot, a wooden spoon and a whisk)
*1 bar of chocolate = 1 cup of Hot Chocolate
Set your hob to medium heat and pour 1 cup of milk into your chocolatera. Add a bar of chocolate and let it steep for a minute so the chocolate softens. Now use your molinillo or wooden spoon to break apart the chocolate bar. Stir it in to incorporate the chocolate into the milk.
Usually, you'd spin the molinillo with your palms to both mix the chocolate with the milk and give the hot chocolate a nice foamy texture; but if you don't have a molinillo, you can use a whisk.
Once the chocolate has been fully incorporated with the milk, serve your brew in your favourite mug but don't forget to leave some space for your cheese!
Chop up the cheese in squares of about 1 inch and drop four or five squares into your cup. Let it steep and melt as you drink your Chocolate Caliente, and see if you can wait until you finish the chocolate to reap your reward!
¡Provecho!
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