Welcome to day 1 of 12 Days of Christmas! We thought it would be fitting to start the series with a recipe that I make year round, whenever I’m in need of a little comfort and want to summon the cosies — hot chocolate…but frozen. Hear me out. Hot drinks are just not my thing. In college, even in the dead of winter, when it would be snowing and cold and miserable, I would walk around with my takeaway cup of iced coffee (with a splash of peppermint, obviously), my hands pretty much frozen to the cup. And it recently dawned on me that I would much prefer a hot chocolate if it were…not hot. Which is where *drumroll* frozen hot chocolate comes in. I took inspiration for this recipe from the cafe Serendipity in NYC that serves a frozen hot chocolate that shot to fame thanks to the early 2000s movie Serendipity. It’s a slushy, chocolatey, whipped creamy mess leaving you no real dignified way to drink it. And that is exactly the vibe I am channeling for my hot chocolate these days. Besides, I think a frozen hot chocolate is far more conducive to the tropical Christmas we experience in many parts of India. Even in Bangalore where we are meant to have a light coat and boots-if you-really-want-to weather in December, thanks to climate change, it is still far too warm to be drinking a hot hot chocolate, if you ask me.
Feel free to adapt this as you like — add peppermint instead of vanilla, top with whipped cream, add a shot of espresso. The possibilities are endless.
20 year-old Aysha enjoying a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity
Frozen Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
50 grams chocolate (I used 25 g 55% and 25 g 70% callebaut)
1 tbsp milk powder
1 tbsp sugar, or to taste
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup ice cubes
Method
In a small pan on a low flame, add the chocolate, sugar, milk powder and milk.
Allow the chocolate to melt, stirring every now and then. Once melted, mix well to make sure the chocolate is fully incorporated into the milk. Add the vanilla extract, mix and set aside to cool.
When fully cool, add this ooey gooey chocolate to a blender with the ice.
Blend until all the ice is broken down.
Serve immediately.