Please help me make chili hot chocolate!

February 3, 2011 4:25 PM

Please help me make some delicious chili hot chocolate!

I have had either chili hot chocolate or Mayan hot chocolate before and loved it. I'd like to be able to make some for a Valentine's fundraiser we're having at my work.

I'm hoping to test it out this weekend. I've been googling recipes, but they're all very different and I was wondering if anyone had a great one?

Thank you!

posted by Pademelon to food & drink (12 answers total)

I make a normal hot chocolate -- make a 2:3 paste of cocoa:sugar with a few tbsp of water, heat, then add a cup or two of milk, plus cinnamon and chili powder to taste. You can add more cocoa/sugar/cinnamon/chili as the milk heats until you like the exact taste. This hot cocoa reheats perfectly well.
posted by jeather at 4:30 PM on February 3, 2011

I have made this recipe at least one-hundred-fifty-billion times. At least. The reason why is because of its deliciousness. Also, you just add water (vs milk) so it travels well.

The trick is to get good powdered milk. Most of what you find in the supermarket is fat-free and it tastes and smells sour (to me). You want whole powdered milk like Nido, easily found in any hispanic food market (and, apparently, on Amazon). Just be careful you don't accidentally get Nido Kinder because that's baby formula and, as we all know, babies are stupid.
posted by The Dutchman at 5:19 PM on February 3, 2011 [9 favorites]

You want to start with Ibarra hot chocolate. It's easy to find in grocery stores in the U.S. It's a tablet that you melt into hot milk and, preferably, whip. Mexican hot chocolate is kind of foamy. Hot chocolate in Mexico is not made from cocoa powder and sugar the way we do it here. If you're serious about it, you make it from a paste that's essentially ground cacoa beans with canela (a variety of cinnamon), nuts, and raw sugar. The Ibarra chocolate is a standard substitute for those who don't want to spend all day grinding cacoa beans.

Hot chocolate with chiles is not commonly served in Mexico today, though pre-Columbian residents may have done it that way.
posted by chrchr at 5:47 PM on February 3, 2011

I can't remember where I found the recipe I started with before I changed some things here and there, but this is "my" recipe, which has gotten rave reviews from everyone I've served it to:

You need:
4oz high quality unsweetened or semi-sweet chocolate (Godiva is good. Scharffen Berger is better.)
2 1/2 cups milk
3 tbsp sugar if using semi-sweet chocolate, 6 if using unsweetened
1 1/2 tsp real vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper if you want it spicy, chili powder if you just want the chili flavor

1) Chop your chocolate into small chunks
2) Heat the milk in a saucepan on low - you don't want to scorch it. Stir in the chocolate and slowly stir until it melts.
3) Add the other ingredients and stir for about a minute
4) Serve!
posted by katillathehun at 5:58 PM on February 3, 2011 [7 favorites]

I'm having trouble pasting links on my iPad, but nativeseeds.org used to have a HOT hot cocoa mix.... I didn't see it just now, but they do have a spicy brownie mix. AND it's a worthwhile cause.
posted by kestrel251 at 6:29 PM on February 3, 2011

Oh, and also - a splash of lime juice is amazing in it. If that's not your thing, whipped cream (preferably not from a can) is also good with some cinnamon lightly sprinkled over the top.
posted by katillathehun at 6:50 PM on February 3, 2011

Kakawa Chocolate House in Santa Fe NM makes the most unbelievable chocolate things I've ever had, including elixirs that are historically accurate as they can make them. They sell the wafers so you can make them yourself, including a a chili elixir. They're not exactly cheap, but oh so worth it.
posted by rtha at 6:51 PM on February 3, 2011 [3 favorites]

I really like the chipotle hot chocolate at the ACKC cocoa bar in Washington DC--a little googling turns up this video by the co-owner which seems pretty similar to what they serve in the store.
posted by _Silky_ at 9:11 PM on February 3, 2011

You didn't mention whether you wanted to make a dry mix to sell, or wanted to serve it ready made.

For ready made: Put milk in saucepan. Add squares of Lindt Chilli. Stir/whisk til melted and frothy.

For dry mix: Grate Lindt Chilli chocolate with a microplane, then bag with instructions as per above. I suppose you could mix it with milk powder and dry dairy creamer if you wanted to make a 'hot water only' mix.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 11:27 PM on February 3, 2011

2nding Kakawa, their chocolate is pretty unbelievable. Their recipes are mostly historic so you could possibly research and reverse engineer one of them for a fundraiser. I would be nervous serving to a crowd though, some of it is pretty far from Swiss Miss. Remember that the Mayans had neither milk nor processed sugar.
posted by Locobot at 11:53 PM on February 3, 2011

Thanks guys, this is very helpful.

I live in Canada so there's not a lot of hispanic markets around, and I'd rather not order anything online - the simpler the better!

We're already doing regular hot chocolate so I just wanted to see if a spicy alternative would be an option. Please keep the recipes coming!
posted by Pademelon at 3:39 AM on February 4, 2011

katillathehun: That recipe turned out great! Thanks for sharing.

Though I never realized how much of a kick cayenne had. I think my throat is going to numb by tonight.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 2:46 PM on February 5, 2011