Mythical

I don't know what it is about hot chocolate, but it's always seemed like one of those things you just don't make from scratch.

It almost has a mythical nature--this perfect drink I would enjoy as a kid on those brisk Atlanta mornings during our three week long winters.  But you never actually saw someone make hot chocolate.  It would come out of a paper packet, like so much oatmeal or cream of wheat, to be mixed with water or milk.  Sometimes, if you were lucky, it came in a nice canister (but make sure to avoid this stuff!).  You could get it at IHOP or Ruby Tuesday's, but you never got refills.  There was something special about hot chocolate.

And so I've deep fried turkeys, made cheesecakes and mousses, put cranberries in a risotto, and made ice cream from scratch.  But I've never thought to make hot chocolate from scratch.  Until today.

Outside:

Inside:

It's actually much easier than I thought.  Just some unsweetened cocoa powder, sugar, salt, water, milk, and vanilla extract.  I finished it with a little vanilla cream and mmmmmm, no longer mythical.

I'm on my second cup right now and I can see why they don't serve multiple cups of this to little kids.  I feel like one of the balls in this commericial.