Aztec Hot Chocolate

It never snows here in Los Angeles County but it’s still really, really cold, hehe—and when it’s cold I love to make Mexican hot chocolate. This is something I’ve had around the holidays since I can remember; and, it tastes’ so good! Marcela Valladolid, from Mexican Made Easy, on theFood Network has an amazing recipe for Aztec hot chocolate:

Ingredients

Hot Chocolate:

·         4 cups whole milk

·         One 3.2-ounce disk Mexican chocolate, chopped

·         1 dried guajillo chile, stemmed, seeded and deveined

·         1 cinnamon stick

·         1 vanilla bean

Whipped Cream:

·         2 cups heavy whipping cream

·         1/4 cup powdered sugar

·         Ground cinnamon, for dusting

·         Chili powder, for dusting

Directions

For the hot chocolate: Bring the milk to a simmer in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chocolate, guajillo chile, cinnamon stick and vanilla bean. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly to develop some froth and completely melt the chocolate. Remove the chile, vanilla bean and cinnamon stick from the hot mixture.

For the whipped cream: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or in a large glass mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and beat to stiff peaks.

Pour the hot chocolate into a mug. Dollop with the whipped cream and dust with cinnamon and chili powder. Serve immediately.

Go ahead and give it a try & thanks for stoppin’ by!