Recipe: Spiced Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate, also known as cocoa, drinking chocolate, or chocolate tea, is decidedly a comfort food. I remember long snow days at my grandmother's house, revived by a mug of chocolate with marshmallows. But when I discovered spiced chocolate, well, that was a game changer.

When I was a kid, Nestle had a short run of a product called Aztec hot chocolate. It was a powdered mix, but it was different from any cocoa I'd enjoyed previously. It was spicy, and not as sweet.

As an adult, I visited the Del Oro chocolate factory in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. I brought home several bags of their hot chocolate mix, which was spiced with cinnamon and not a powdered mix - instead, it was finely crushed pieces of chocolate. I regret that I didn't buy more, because, unlike the deliciously smooth Cafe Santo Domingo Dominican coffee, Del Oro is not yet available online.

Later, a friend from southern California introduced me to what she called Mexican hot chocolate, also spicy. It was made by melting a small piece of spiced chocolate in milk.

Spiced chocolate is special because it has warming qualities that ordinary Swiss Miss lacks. So, in lieu of returning to the D.R. for more Del Oro, I devised this recipe to indulge in the best that spiced hot chocolate has to offer.

Servings: 1

Ingredients:

1 cup milk or dairy-free alternative

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tbsp dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 tbsp sugar (optional)

Pinch of salt

Pinch of black pepper

Pinch of ground cayenne pepper

Pinch of cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg

Preparation: