An indulgent “nightcap”

Today we are going to talk about homemade cocoa, from scratch.  My son Jon is the bomb at making homemade cocoa from scratch, and he has all kinds of specialized, individualized varieties.

I really don’t approve of drinking cocoa, but I sometimes do it anyway because it is a delicious, luxurious and comforting way to end a day.  That said, I need to level with you: it’s high in sugar and sometimes even has some caffeine, due to the cocoa and chocolate content.

So do not take this as an endorsement, or as any kind of promise that drinking a cup of homemade cocoa before bed will help you sleep.  It very well might not.  However, there are some people (not me!) who can even drink coffee before bed and sleep fine.

If you don’t think cocoa will hurt you, you might want to try it.  At any rate, it is undeniably delicious.  Here is the recipe for one large mug:

Homemade mug of cocoa
(basic recipe)

2 tsp. unsweetened natural cocoa powder
2 tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. boiling water
1 and 1/2 cups hot milk

(You should heat the milk on the stove-top, just to where it begins to form tiny bubbles around the edge of the pan.  We often heat it in the microwave instead, for two minutes, for convenience, even though microwaves are evil.  My son Jon hates microwaves and would generally prefer to eat cold food rather than microwaved food, but he bends for this one particular recipe, just because it works.)

Stir the cocoa powder and sugar together in the bottom of a large mug.

Add boiling water and stir until completely dissolved.

 This is a really lacking picture, but I was freaked out by the process of trying to pour boiling water with my left hand (I am not left-handed) while pushing the shutter button on my camera with my right hand.  So I figured it was good enough.  You can see how I was spilling if you look close.

 Stir until there are no lumps or powdery spots like the ones you can see here.

Stir in hot milk.

Enjoy!!

Variations:
(this is where Jonathan gets fancy)

(1)  ADD 2 Tbsp. of chips (chocolate, butterscotch, white chocolate, etc.)
with the cocoa powder and sugar--make sure these melt completely when you stir in the boiling water,  before you add the milk.

(During this step)

(2)  ADD 1/8-1/4 tsp. extract (vanilla, peppermint, coconut, almond, etc.) with the milk


Different variations:

Use white chocolate chips and peppermint extract to make a Christmas Delight Cocoa.

Use  butterscotch chips and coconut extract  to make Seven Layer Bar Flavored Cocoa.

Use  semisweet chocolate chips and almond extract to make Black Forest Cocoa.

Use  milk chocolate chips and vanilla extract to make Deluxe Chocolate Cocoa.

Use your imagination and come up with your own varieties... and tell me what you discover!