This is the thick Spanish-style hot chocolate, the kind made for dipping churros rather than drinking by the mugful. The trick is a little cornflour, whisked into the milk so the chocolate sets to a glossy, spoonable thickness. Here the milk is first infused with Dragonfly Organic Pure Rooibos, which adds a quiet honey-malt note under the chocolate that plain milk would not give.
Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for the Thick Spanish-Style Rooibos Hot Chocolate recipe. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/rooibos/thick-spanish-style-rooibos-hot-chocolate/
It is rich, so keep the portions small; this is a pudding in a cup, not a long British Cocoa. Use a mix of milk and dark chocolate for balance, and serve it with churros, shortbread fingers or biscotti to dip while it is still thick enough to cling.
You'll need
- 2 Dragonfly Organic Pure Rooibos pyramid bags
- 350ml whole milk
- 1 tbsp cornflour (the Spanish thickener; cornstarch in US English)
- 40g milk chocolate, finely chopped
- 40g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), finely chopped
- 1 tbsp golden caster sugar
- A small pinch of fine sea salt
- A small grating or shake of ground cinnamon, to finish
- A few churros or shortbread fingers to dip (optional, the Spanish service)
Method
- Warm the milk in a small heavy-based pan over a medium-low heat to about 80C, steaming with the first fine bubbles at the edge but not simmering.
- Take it off the heat, drop in the two rooibos bags, cover and infuse for eight minutes. Warm rather than boiling milk keeps the rooibos clean.
- Lift out the bags, pressing each against the side, and discard.
- In a small bowl, whisk the cornflour with 30ml of the warm milk into a smooth slurry with no lumps. This is what gives the Spanish thickness.
- Whisk the slurry back into the pan with the rest of the milk and cook over a low heat for a minute, whisking, until the milk visibly thickens.
- Add both chocolates, the sugar and the pinch of salt, and whisk over a low heat for three to four minutes until melted and thick enough to draw a slow line on the back of a spoon.
- Pour into two small mugs, about three-quarters full; this is rich, so a full mug would be too much.
- Dust each with a little cinnamon and serve at once, with churros or shortbread to dip while it stays thick.
Want the background, not just the brew?
Brewed with: Dragonfly Organic Pure Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g
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