You will be the hit of the festive season with this chai-inspired twist on a winter favourite. Perfect for enjoying with friends after a winter walk, or on your own curled up in front of the fire with a good book on the go!
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves 2
Ingredients
Spiced Hot Chocolate
2 cups milk (full fat or semi-skimmed work well, but you can experiment with soy, oat etc)
4 tablespoons high quality drinking chocolate
2 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise
6 cloves
6 green cardamom pods
½ teaspoon nutmeg freshly grated
Cardamom and Vanilla Whipped Cream
½ cup whipping cream
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 teaspoons sugar – optional (if you don’t have a sweet tooth, leave this out)
Method
Spiced Hot Chocolate
Place the milk and all of the whole spices into a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a simmer (don’t let it boil). Allow to simmer for about 3 minutes, whisking or stirring gently to stop the milk being scorched.
Mix the drinking chocolate with a small amount of cold milk to make a runny paste and add this to the milk in the pan, stirring all the time.
Simmer the hot chocolate for a few minutes, whisking or stirring occasionally. Strain into mugs (to catch the whole spices). Top with the cardamom and vanilla whipped cream.
Cardamom and Vanilla Whipped Cream
Chill a mixing bowl for 30 minutes. Then into the bowl, combine the whipping cream, sugar (if using), vanilla and cardamom. Whip the mixture, until you get soft peaks, a light and airy topping. When whipping, aim for soft clouds of cream, stopping before the cream gets too thick.
