Gratitude Goes To One Ingredient Chef

Who says …

Once upon a time, I did an interview where I was asked, “If we looked through your kitchen, what would we be most surprised to see?” I replied, “The inordinate amount of chocolate products… There’s Columbian dark chocolate, Swiss dark chocolate, Belgian dark chocolate, vegan chocolate chips, cacao nibs, cacao powder, cocoa powder, and cacao butter, and more…”

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cacao nibs
1 cup water
2 tablespoons sucanat or coconut sugar
1 cup non-dairy milk

1.5 ounces dark chocolate
4 drops peppermint oil
Pinch of salt

Here’s How The Chef Does It:

Step One

First, you need cacao powder. You can get this by either buying the powder itself (if you can find it) or simply grinding the cacao nibs into a fine powder in a coffee grinder or powerful blender. Combine 1/3 cup of this powder with 1 cup of hot (but not boiling) water and 1-2 tablespoons of sweetener in a french press. If you don’t have a french press, any pitcher will work. Give it 15 minutes to “brew” like coffee.
Step Two

Meanwhile, warm 1 cup of non-dairy milk over low heat in a saucepan. Any type of milk will work, but I prefer my homemade cashew milk for its incredible creaminess. Then, loosely chop 1.5 – 2 ounces of chocolate (at least 72% dark chocolate) and whisk constantly. Only warm this enough to melt the chocolate – you do not want burned chocolate here.
Step Three

Using a kitchen strainer, strain the liquid from the cacao grounds and pour right into the saucepan with the milk and chocolate. Add a pinch of salt and one drop of peppermint oil at a time, until it’s just the right amount of pepperminty for you (I used 4 drops) and continue whisking until at the desired temperature.
Step Four

Finally, let’s froth this stuff. Return to the french press and use the plunger to repeatedly aerate the daylights out of this mixture until it has become frothy and wonderful. Serve in 4-ounch portions and optionally top with a dollop of my coconut whipped cream recipe. [wpurp-searchable-recipe]Peppermint Hot Chocolate Shots – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]

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