Divine Hot Chocolate (with Red Wine)

I was browsing the earliest recipes in this blog… and I have to say, not all of them are up to the high Real Food standards I now hold myself to.

That doesn’t mean they are bad… exactly. Case-in-point, my Decadent Hot Chocolate with Red Wine. Not even a year ago, I was really quite proud of it. It didn’t come from a mix, it used real cocoa powder, and was pretty light on sugar. And it included wine, not to mention cinnamon and cayenne, and all-in-all really was a decadent, delicious treat.  

Fast forward to the place I am now… and it really won’t do.

I almost never use white sugar, and especially not confectioner’s sugar, because it is very likely to contain GMOs. And I have switched from cocoa powder to raw cacao powder, because of the significantly higher levels of antioxidants. Plus raw cacao is an excellent source of essential fatty acids, fiber, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, calcium and sulfur, and turns chocolate from an indulgent treat into a superfood. (Read more about the difference between cocoa and cacao from Body Unburdened.)

But you still have to have hot chocolate! 

And after a couple of cold, damp walks home from the playground after school, I knew I had to turn my Decadent Hot Chocolate into something that I would be proud to share with my friends and family.

I relied heavily on The Polivka Family’s Knock Your Socks Off Hot Chocolate, which, by the way, is quite amazing all by itself, and doesn’t need to be fiddled with in any way. Unless, of course, you wish to add wine.

And I bring you…

Divine Hot Chocolate

2 cups of the best milk you can find (we use whole milk from grass-fed cows that is vat pasteurized and not homogenized)

1 pastured egg

2 Tablespoons maple syrup (my brother makes mine, but you can find some here)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup raw cacao powder (like this)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder (You can order quality herbs and spices here.)

1/8 teaspoon cayanne powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon good butter from grass-fed cows

1/2 cup red wine 

Whisk the egg and the milk together in a saucepan. Add all the other ingredients except the wine. Then and only then place the saucepan on the stove and heat slowly and gently, whisking continually.

(Okay… you’re gonna actually want to do this. Otherwise the egg will cook and you will wind up with egg drop hot chocolate, which is, surprisingly, not as horrible as you might think, but definitely NOT what we are going for here…) 

When all the cacao and spices are mixed in, and the milk is nice and hot, remove the pan from the heat. Keep stirring, and give it a few seconds to cool down before adding the wine. You don’t want to flash off any of that alcohol because the chocolate was too hot!

This recipe will make enough for you and a friend. 

Enjoy!

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