Creamy and Rich Hot Cocoa For One

 

I saw these marshmallows at Asda the other day and I just could not resist picking up a package!  They are so cute.  Little snowman faces.  I just couldn't pass them by without picking up a package! (or two)

 

Hot cocoa has never been my favourite drink. First of all I am not fond of chocolate milk, or chocolate ice cream.  I adore chocolate candy and chocolate bakes, but when it comes to milk, I could take or leave it.

 

Add to that the fact that most hot cocoa powders you get to use at home and largely disappointing.  You end up with watery hot cocoa with lumps and bits of cocoa powder in them, because no matter how hard you try you just can't get the cocoa to dissolve completely!   

 

About the only place you can get a decent hot chocolate is at one of the coffee shops and then it costs more than a coffee and is far too sweet for my taste.

  

Todd, on the other hand, really loves a nice cup of hot cocoa, although in all truth he finds the packaged hot cocoa mixes a huge disappointment as well.

 

One exception is the Strawberry Hot Cocoa Mix that I make myself.  That is perfectly delicious.  I saw a recipe on a blog called Baking Mischief the other day for a creamy rich hot chocolate sized for one person the other day and so I printed it out and decided to try it for Todd.

 

Oh boy  . . . this is the Cadillac of Hot Chocolates!  Its rich and creamy and quite delicious!

 

I adapted it to our tastes and measures.  I left out the espresso powder as we don't drink coffee drinks in our home as we are Latter Day Saints.

 

Do feel free to add it if that isn't a problem for you, its only 1/4 tsp. I also adapted it so that I could make it in the microwave without having to dirty a saucepan.

  

I confess I had a little sip and it was absolutely gorgeous! That's coming from me who doesn't really like hot chocolate, so you know it must be really good!  Todd felt very special when I set this down in front of him.

Creamy and Rich Hot Cocoa For One

Yield: 1

Author: Marie Rayner

The perfect cup of cocoa, rich and creamy and beautifully sized for just one.  You don't get much better than this!

ingredients:

• 1 TBS white sugar
• 1 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
• pinch salt
• 1 TBS boiling water
• 160ml whole  milk (2/3 cup)
• 80ml heavy cream (1/3 cup)
• 2 heaped TBS semi sweet chocolate chips
• your favourite toppings (marshmallows, whipped cream, etc.)

instructions:

How to cook Creamy and Rich Hot Cocoa For One

1. Combine the sugar, cocoa powder, salt and boiling water to make a paste in the bottom of a measuring cup.  Add the milk, whisking to combine well.  Put in the microwave and microwave on high for one minute.  Whisk in the cream and return to the microwave and microwave on high for one minute longer. (Keep an eye on it. You don't want it to bubble over.)  Add the chocolate chips and whisk all together to melt the chocolate chips.  Transfer to your favourite mug, top as desired and enjoy!

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There are ways that you could adapt this to someone who needs to watch their sugars. For one, leave off the marshmallows.  Two you could use a granulated sugar substitute instead of real sugar.  You could also use evaporated skim milk instead of cream and semi sweet milk instead of whole milk  I would leave in the chocolate chips however.  We can't take away ALL of the fun and goodness can we?  

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Blackcurrant & Vanilla Cordial

 

Our blackcurrants are coming fast and furious now.  In all truth in about a week, they will be all done, and what's left on our bush will be left to the birds to enjoy. They don't mind one iota, and neither do I.  Give nature back a bit of what it gifts you with is my motto. 

 

I love to make fruit cordials in the summer with some of our soft fruits. I do freeze a lot, and I even freeze some of the cordials for the winter. If you pop them into an ice cube tray, you can just pop them out once frozen into a baggie and you have single servings of cordial  to enjoy all winter long. You can't beat the taste of a homemade fruit cordial made with real fruit! 

 

I have always loved the flavour of blackcurrants.  Back home my favourite Halls cough drops were the Blackcurrant ones.  Cordials are really easy to make.  You just mix fruit, sugar, water  . . . 

  

Cook to extract the juice, and thicken it, then strain.  This time I added a vanilla bean to infuse it with some delicious vanilla flavour. You can leave it out if you want, but I really like the special touch it adds to the finished cordial, both scent and taste . . .

 

You end up with a really thick strong fruity syrup, which makes a wonderfully refreshing drink when diluted! 

 

When diluting I use a ration of one part cordial to 3 parts of whatever I am mixing it with. You can use sparkling water, regular water, fizzy lemonade, etc.  

  

It makes a really refreshing and delicious drink poured over ice.  I like it mixed with a fizzy drink like 7-up or Sprite . . . 

 

You can spoon the syrup over ice cream if you wish . . .

 

Add it to vanilla ice cream and milk to make fruity milk shakes . . .

 

Its pretty wonderful no matter how you choose to enjoy it! 

 

You can use just about any berry in the same quantities to make a cordial, or a mix of berries, always delicious! 

 

Whenever I am making cordial I always think of Anne Shirley and her friend Diana getting drunk on Cordial that had fermented and turned alcoholic.  Don't you just love the story of Anne of Green Gables? 

  

Its one of my favourite stories.  A simpler time with  simple pleasures.  Just like this simple homemade cordial . . .

Yield: 450ml or scant 2 cups

Author: Marie Rayner

Black Currant & Vanilla Cordial

Sweet and fruity. Mix 1 part cordial with 3 parts water, sparkling water, sparkling lemonade, etc. for a deliciously refreshing summer drink. You can actually use any berry to make this, or a mix of berries.

ingredients:

• 300g Black currants or other berries (3 cups)
• 160g sugar (1/2 cup plus 5 TBS)
• 325 ml cold water (1 1/3 cups)
• 1 large vanilla pod, split and caviar scraped out

instructions:

How to cook Black Currant & Vanilla Cordial

1. Pick over and clean your currants.  Place into a saucepan.  Add the vanilla pod and its caviar.  Sprinkle the sugar over top. Pour in the water.  Bring to a simmer over moderate heat.  Mash the fruit as it cooks with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring occasionally over low heat until the fruit has cooked and the sugar is dissolved. It won't take long.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.  Strain through a fine mesh sieve.  Strain again and then pour into a glass bottle or jar with a lid. You can keep this in the refrigerator for up to one month or freeze for longer. (If freezing it is more practical to freeze in smaller amounts so that you can thaw out only what you need. I like to freeze it in ice cube trays and then once frozen, pop them into a zip lock baggie.  Presto, individual servings!)

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At any rate, I hope you will give this delicious fruit cordial a go and that you will enjoy it.  Such a simple thing, and so very wonderful . . . 

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Haymaker's Beer

  

We have had such a fantastically warm and sun drenched summer thus far, which in some ways has been quite fantastic for farmers growing silage for their animals Its perhaps a bit tenuous for other crops, but for getting in the hay its been a really great year thus far.  In fact our own house garden is looking a bit like dry hay fields at the moment! Dry, wheat coloured and not our usual verdant green.

 

 

 “Oh our hay it is mown and our corn it is reaped, 

our barns are full and we’ve garnered the seed…”

I would wager that in these modern times, making hay is not quite as much of a labor as it was in olden times. Back then it would have required a lot of workers and helpers, and taken days of hot and dusty work, with most of the hay having to be cut by scythes.  I saw a bit of that in the series Larkrise to Candleford, in one episode . . .  with the  the whole town participating in the harvesting of the hay/corn/wheat. 

Even in our time it is still a hot and dusty work.  This recipe I am showing you today would have been a traditional drink that would have been served up ice cold to the workers as a means of refreshment in the field.

 

There is actually no real "Beer" involved.  Not many farmers would have wanted to risk the bringing in of their hay by serving actual "Beer" to their men . . .  nor could they afford the expense of quenching the thirsts of their hot and tired workers by serving them real "Beer."  Instead, it is a drink which is meant to be thirst quenching without dulling the senses.

 

It actually does resemble a dark ale in looks, but that is where any true resemblance to beer stops.  It might have faint echoes in flavour to the real thing, but not being a beer drinker myself, I cannot actually say this for sure!

 

It has a very faint malty flavour . . .  probably from the use of molasses in this mixture, which also gives it it's dark colour . . .

  

More sweetness comes in the form of granulated sugar . . .  but again there is a hint of sour from the use of white vinegar.  Todd, who has been an ale-drinker in days gone past, says it is quite a pleasant drink.  This is also a nice whiff of ginger, which is known to be refreshing!

 

Having said that I don't think it is ever going to overtake homemade lemonade in the scheme of popularity when it comes to thirst quenching drinks in our house!  Then again, we are not out working in the fields and getting all hot and dusty!!

 

It is a recipe I have adapted from a very old paper-back recipe book I have had in my library for many years called The Farmer's Daughter Cookbook, by Kandy Norton Henley.  In its day, it was called a delectable treasury of nostalgic home cooking!

 

Published in 1971,  I have had this book for nigh on to 47 years now. (Oh that does make me feel old!)  This is a recipe that I have always been curious about, and with the hot weather we have been experiencing, I decided to finally give it a try! (Better late than never!)

 

Todd quite likes it and has really enjoyed it after mowing the lawn, maybe not  as hearty a chore as bringing in the hay crop, but still quite sweat inducing! 

 

I have a huge jar of it in the refrigerator,  and I dare say he will be enjoying it  until we run out of hot weather.  He normally isn't much of a cold drink lover (I wear that crown), but when it is hot he does enjoy something colder!

 

*Haymaker's Beer*

Makes a generous

4 litres/1 gallon

Printable Recipe 

 

This thirst-quenching refreshing drink would have been a treat on a hot day to the farm worker's who used to help the farmer's get their hay crop in. 

4 litres water (16 cups)

385g sugar (2 cups)

240ml molasses (1 cup)

240ml white vinegar (1 cup)

1 to 2 tsp ground ginger 

 

Mix all of the ingredients together until the sugar is dissolved.  Chill in the refrigerator until very cold.  In the hayfield, this is every man's drink. 

 

Needless to say I did not make a whole gallon of this drink.  I cut the recipe down by about 3/4, only making about 1 litre of it.  I don't have a whole haying crew to please, after all, and I mostly wanted to make it more out of curiosity than for any other reason.  Having said that, however  . . .  I am glad that I did!  Here's mud in your eye! 

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