mexican hot chocolate?!
 

ok. i know that there is such a thing as mexican hot chocolate. where you add cinaninonmin (yeah...i cant spell that and im too lazy to look it up) or coffee to it.

but really...i know that somewhere out there theres a recipe where you add some kind of spice or peppers to it to make it really fiery.

do you know of any?

I've made a spicy hot cocoa that just added Allspice, cardamom and cinnamon to the cocoa... you could also add a touch of cayenne pepper to it to 'kick it up a notch' :)

I've always done it the lazy way using Ibarra mexican chocolate, which is great stuff that you can get just about in any grocery store. I've never put any chilies in, the only bean I've ever added is a vanilla bean.

If you want to make it fiery though you could easily do that with some hot dried chili peppers or seeds, also easy to find.

Mmmm, this sounds good. I use Ibarra too, but I love hot - sweet combo.

It's kinda like a spanking for your tongue...

Cayenne pepper is the pepper that seems to go best with chocolate.

Mexican Hot Chocolate:
1 tablet Mexican chocolate (available in your Hispanic foods section, look for a yellow package that says Ibarra...if you can't find it, you can use bittersweet chocolate)
3 cups milk
sugar to taste (may or may not be necessary based on what kind of chocolate you buy)
cinnamon to taste

Heat milk on stove over medium-low heat. Chop up tablet of chocolate; add to heated milk. Add sugar at this step if necessary. Heat milk until all the chocolate is melted and milk is hot but not boiling. Add cinnamon to taste. Pour into mugs and top the chocolate with a dash of cayenne pepper. For a nice touch, serve with cinnamon sticks as a stirrer.

On a side note, this hot chocolate tastes better the higher the fat content in your milk is--so use 2% or higher for a richer taste.

thanks guys! i knew you could put peppers in it! i would love to slap him in the face with this info.

and he said it doesnt exist....

Hi there. Do you live in a large enough town such that Mexican products are available? The two most readily available brands of Mexican chocolate will be Ibarra and Abuelita. Both are from the north and just contain cacao, sugar and cinnamon.

When you travel farther south, and regrettably these never get exported to the U.S. to Oaxaca, you find the best chocolate, which adds almonds to the mix. The hands down best brand is Chocolate Mayordomo. May be available on the web.

Here is my secret for excellent hot chocolate. Use half and half instead of milk and double or triple the quantity of chocolate that the recipe calls for so that you end up with a thick and rich chocolate beverage. Add vodka if you like.

Last year, I brought back 10 kilos of Chocolate Mayordomo from Oaxaca. It finally got used up last week. Guess what? I leave for Oaxaca on Saturday!

Also, in Michael Coe's The True History of Chocolate, he notes adding annato (achiote) to the chocolate. T'will turns your mouth red.

well there are stranger things...like chocolate in savoury dishes...I think it's relatively common in mexico. At least I read a great novel called "Like Water for Chocolate" which is set in Mexico and it features some recipes like this. This book is an excellent read by the way - every chapter begins with a recipe and all the main characters' memories are entwined with each one.

Cayenne or chili pepper in chocolate isn't just a mexican thing. I'm living in Germany at the moment, and there are several chocolatiers in town that sell chocolate with chili pepper in it. Usually they are chocolate balls with a dusting of pepper on the outside. Not a flavor I would have expected to like, but its good!

Has anyone seen Chocolat?

They make spiced hot chocolate too. A friend of mine hosted a party where all of us ladies got together, ate chocolates, and drank Mexican hot chocolate.

Delicious!