Hot Cocoa on a Stick

Hot cocoa – Yum! Hot cocoa on a stick?! Yup. It’s true and it’s yummy. Heck, *I* even like the chocolate part and that is saying something! Here is the recipe for the cocoa block party. I used Wilton’s 6″ lollipop sticks to put the cocoa blocks and marshmallow on. You can buy marshmallows at the store, or make them yourself. I like how they are the same shape as the cocoa block since I made them myself. Why don’t I make marshmallows more often?? They really are yummy – and no extra preservatives that the manufactured ones put in their marshmallows. Here is the recipe for the marshmallows and below is the recipe for the cocoa blocks. The great thing about these two recipes are that they contain a few simple ingredients and taste amazing. It’s more technique than ingredients. If you are daunted by the mess – thank goodness that sugar is hydrophilic! Just soak everything in warm water for an hour and you’ll be golden, Ponyboy. (see next paragraph about my reference)

Update on my reading: I have finished “The Outsiders” by SE Hinton. Wow – it is one of those books that I wish I had been made to read when I was in high school. GREAT book. It reminded me of “West Side Story” in setting, but it has a completely original plot. Our book club book this month is “Peace Like a River” by Leif Enger. Hopefully, I can finish that quickly and I plan to read “Holes” next. I’m also reading “How to Read Literature like a Professor” by Thomas Foster – another really good companion to anyone interested in learning more about fictional literature.

Hot Cocoa on a Stick
yield about 36 squares that are 1″x1″

1/2 cup heavy cream
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
3 cups (18 oz.) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate ( I used semisweet)
3/4 cup (4 oz) unsweetened baking chocolate
1 tsp. vanilla extract (or you could use coffee, hazelnut, peppermint, Irish Creme etc.)

1. Line your 8×8 or 9×9 pan with parchment or foil or I used the nonstick foil.
2. In a pot over low heat, stir the cream and condensed milk until it starts to steam. Take the pot off of the heat and simply add the chocolate. Just let it sit and melt all on its own.
3. 10 minutes later, put your pot on low heat and stir the chocolate to melt. Mix it hard and fast until it gets thick and shiny. Take the pot off of the heat and stir in the vanilla.
4. Dump the mixture into your pan. Jiggle the pan to level the mixture. Now, let it sit overnight.
5. Cut into 1.25″ cubes. I did this by running the knife in hot water and wiping dry between cuts. It worked nicely this way, though it is more time consuming.
6. At this point you are done. You can eat the blocks, or put them on lollipop sticks or wooden sticks. I made them ahead of time, so I wrapped each one in plastic wrap and put them in a freezer bag to freeze until later. Then, I thawed them at room temperature for a couple hours to make the hot chocolate on a stick. To give as gifts, I used the Wilton gift bags to wrap each one and secured them with the silver twist tie included with the package. It made a fun and different gift.

Directions for Hot Chocolate:

Hot Chocolate on a Stick!

Swirl chocolate and marshmallow stick into
8 oz. of hot milk
(depending on how chocolatey you like it.)

Or simply eat as is… it’s great that way, too!

Merry Christmas!