Decadent Drinking Chocolate

At home or at a certain local café au chocolat, this warm beverage is divine

If like me you are a fond lover of Regency-era (and earlier) literature, you’ve encountered multiple (and frequent) references to drinking chocolate, also known as Parisian hot chocolate. Or perhaps you learned about it from the 1999 novel “Chocolat” by Joanne Harri, which was released the following year as a lush and charming movie starring the French actress and dancer Juliette Binoche. It is believed that the Maya created the first chocolate drink around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, thus proving once again how advanced they were as a civilization. For all these reasons, I became intrigued by the decadent drink years ago and began making it at home.

A couple of months ago however, I was delighted to learn that Piety and Desire Chocolate’s Café au Chocolat on Magazine Street keeps it “on tap” and my occasional treat has become a more frequent indulgence. You can also buy the company’s artful and delicious chocolates at the café, so it’s a wonderful spot to do a little holiday shopping while fortifying yourself with drinking chocolate or a coffee beverage.

While I am thrilled to have access to ready-made drinking chocolate any time I’m on Magazine Street, I highly recommend making it yourself. It’s so easy and the payoff is incredible. It’s truly time well spent.

Drinking Chocolate

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces milk or alternative plant milk
  • 3 ounces dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate
  • pinch of course salt
  • brown sugar, to taste

Directions

In a saucepan, heat your milk of choice until steaming, add chocolate, stir until creamy, add a pinch of salt. Add brown sugar if you like it sweeter.

Home for the Holidays

I’m on vacation and traveling to Kentucky to freeze my rump off with family for the next couple of weeks. Happy holidays, whichever ones you celebrate. Thank you for following along with Bon Vivant over the past year. As always, I’m grateful for those of you who keep reading year after year, the newbies and those of you who pop in, even if by accident. If you need some reading material while I’m out of the office, revisit the Bon Vivant archives. Be kind to others and yourselves and I’ll see you in 2023! Cheers!

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