Chocolat Chaud - French Hot Chocolate

This Chocolat Chaud aka French Hot Chocolate is made the old-fashioned way with hot milk and rich dark 85% cocoa chocolate. Add sugar or don't, to taste. In France, many don't add sugar but I need a little!

Years ago when we lived in Paris, it was a special treat to go out to a café for a café crème or chocolat chaud. In fact, we had a running joke about finding the most expensive cup of coffee. I think the winner was a café on the Champs-Élysées, natch, that charged me 35 francs for a small cup of coffee, which would have been about $10. In 1992, it seemed a small fortune. 

The upshot, as I’m sure you can imagine, was that we made coffee and hot chocolate at home at a lot. 

Chocolat Chaud - French Hot Chocolate

You can find chocolate powder in France but if you want to make traditional chocolat chaud, you need a good quality chocolate bar that is at least 70 percent cocoa. It’s also best made with whole milk. 

Ingredients

2 cups or 480ml whole milk

4.4 oz or 125g bittersweet chocolate, best-quality

2 tablespoons demerara or turbinado sugar or to taste

Method

Chop the chocolate roughly. (This chocolate was an Aldi buy. Great chocolate at a reasonable price.)

In a small pot, over a low flame, heat the milk until it just starts to steam. 

Remove the pot from the stove and add in the chopped chocolate. 

Whisk until the chocolate is completely melted. 

Add sugar to taste or let everyone add sugar to their own cups. Serve immediately or return the hot chocolate to the stove and cook for a few more minutes for thicker hot chocolate. This hot chocolate can also be cooled then warmed again to serve. 

Serve warm in demitasse cups, or small coffee or tea cups. It's so lovely, rich and thick that the sugar doesn't really sink until you stir!

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and we are celebrating National Hot Chocolate Day (which is tomorrow, 31 January) by sharing our favorite recipes. Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla and her friendly helper, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm.

• Cheese in Your Hot Chocolate? Yep. Chocolate con Queso from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Chocolat Chaud - French Hot Chocolate from Food Lust People Love
• Cinnamon Chilli Hot chocolate from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Homemade Hot Chocolate Bombs from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Hot Chocolate Cookies from Making Miracles
• Mexican Hot Chocolate from Mayuri’s Jikoni 
• Nutella Hot Chocolate from Sneha's Recipe
• Salted Caramel Espresso Hot Cocoa (Salted Caramel Mocha) from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Spicy Hot Chocolate from The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Chocolat Chaud – French Hot Chocolate!

 .

Chocolate Spider Web Bundt Cake #BundtBakers

This Chocolate Spider Web Bundt Cake is super chocolate-y with a tender, light crumb and just the right amount of sweetness. Made with almond flour, sour cream and brown Swerve, it’s keto and diabetic friendly. 

I know a lot of people took up new hobbies or learned a new craft last year during lockdown. I’m a little slow on the uptake. A few weeks ago an amazing knitter friend offered to teach a small group of us to knit. More for the camaraderie than anything, I agreed. 

My first project, a rather chunky small blanket made with thick yarn and immense needles, isn’t going as well as I could hope but I am determined to persevere and finish it. If only to say that I didn’t give up. I am enjoying the company of friends much more!

Yesterday, my small group – we like to call ourselves Well-Knit because aside from the actually knitting together now, we’ve been friends for almost 50 years! – came over for dinner. I made a pot of Four-Alarm Texas chili and a big spinach salad. This delicious cake was the perfect dessert for all of our varied diets and dietary needs, not to mention being holiday appropriate for October. 

Chocolate Spider Web Bundt Cake 

Aside from the eggs, the only leavening in this cake is the baking soda so it’s essential that you use unsweetened natural cocoa powder and not Dutch processed. The reaction between the acid in the natural cocoa (and the sour cream) and the baking soda is what gives this cake lift. 

Ingredients

For the cake:

melted unsalted butter for pan

4 large eggs

2/3 cup, packed, or 133g brown Swerve or brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup or 120ml sour cream

2 cup or 226g almond flour

2/3 cup or 66g unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed), plus extra for pan

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

For the icing spider web:

2 tablespoons pasteurized egg whites (1 large egg white)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 1/3 cups 166g powdered Swerve or powdered sugar

For decoration: one plastic spider

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F or 163°C. Liberally butter a six-cup Bundt pan and sprinkle it thoroughly with cocoa powder.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown Swerve and vanilla extract. (This was my first time using Swerve and I was amazed by how much it looked exactly like brown sugar. But zero-calorie and low-glycemic. What sorcery is this?)

In another bowl. Sift together the cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. I live in a humid climate and despite keeping the cocoa powder and baking soda in airtight containers, they still get lumpy. If your cocoa and baking soda are free-flowing and lump free, you can skip the sifting step and put them right in the bowl. 

Whisk the sour cream, almond flour and cocoa powder mix into the egg/Swerve mixture.

Spoon the thick batter into your prepared pan. 

Bake until center is set, and a toothpick inserted in it comes out clean, 40-45 minutes.

Cool the cake for about 10 minutes, then turn it out on to a wire rack until it cools completely. 

To make the icing for the spider web, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Stir well until it’s completely smooth. If it seems too runny to apply with a piping bag, add another tablespoon or two of powdered Swerve or sugar. 

Using a piping bag with a #3 tip, make lines down the Bundt cake from the bottom up and down the inside.

Starting at the top, pipe curves between the lines to complete the spider web. 

Use a spoon or spatula to fill the bottom of the spider with icing and press it gently to the cake to adhere. Royal icing hardens when it dries and will hold the spider in place nicely.

Slice to serve!

It’s Bundt Baker time and since it’s October and All Hallow’s Eve is nigh, we are sharing Halloween cakes! Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm!

• Pat Y Co: Boo...Chocolate-Coconut and Pumpkin Marble Bundt
• Making Miracles: Chocolate Orange Swirled Bundt Cake 
• Food Lust People Love: Chocolate Spider Web Bundt Cake 
• Palatable Pastime: Dirt and Worms Bundt Cake 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Mini Pumpkin Bundts 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Monster Bundt Cake 
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla: No Bones About It Pumpkin Mini Bundts

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

Pin this Chocolate Spider Web Bundt Cake!

 .

Mini Peanut Butter Cup Muffins #MuffinMonday

These mini peanut butter cup muffins are full of peanut butter flavor and are studded with mini peanut butter cups inside and out.

I usually do most of the grocery shopping in our family because I enjoy it. I actually like choosing the produce and browsing the aisles for ingredients that say “Dinner!” to me. We have a shared note on our iPhones so that everyone can add items or untick the little circle (which makes that item jump to the top of the list) so that I know exactly what to buy on my weekly shopping trip. 

A number of weeks ago, my daughter added rice cakes to the list. Unsalted rice cakes. Low salt, low sodium and lightly salted were all options in my usual grocery stores but no unsalted. Who knew they would be so tricky to find? 

I finally ended up at a store called Sprouts Farmers Market and found not just one brand of unsalted rice cakes but three! Yay! I celebrated my good fortune by browsing the shop to see what other great things they might sell and found the tiniest little peanut butter cups in the bulk section. Perfect for snacking and muffin baking.

Sprouts is also the only store where I have been able to find the pearl onions I need for my homemade pub-style pickled onion recipe. I really should shop there more often. 

Mini Peanut Butter Cup Muffins

This recipe makes six normal sized muffins. It's easily doubled to make a batch of 12. If you don’t have mini peanut butter cups, by all means substitute chocolate chips. Chocolate and peanut butter are such a great muffin combo so you need to get some chocolate in there!

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups or 156g flour 

1/4 cup or 50g sugar

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup or 95g creamy peanut butter

1 large egg

1/2 cup or 120ml whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup or 100g mini peanut butter cups 

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your six-muffin pan by greasing it or lining it with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of your dry ingredients: the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a smaller mixing bowl, add all of your wet ingredients, the creamy peanut butter, egg, milk and vanilla extract.

Use a whisk to break up the peanut butter and continue mixing until the whole mess is homogeneous.  That is to say, smooth and of the same consistency throughout.

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ones.

Fold them together gently. If there is still a bit of flour showing, that is good.

Fold in most of the tiny peanut butter cups in, saving some to decorate the tops. 

Divide the batter between your prepared muffin cups. Decorate with the reserved peanut butter cups. You might want to push them in a bit more than I did so they don't slide down the muffins so much while baking. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

After allowing them to cool for a few minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and place on a wire rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!

 

It's the last Monday of the month when we always celebrate Muffin Monday! Check out all the great muffin recipes below!

• Dutch Apple Pie Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Maraschino Cherry Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Mini Peanut Butter Cup Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Pizza Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Small Batch Zucchini Blueberry Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sourdough Cinnamon Buttermilk Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Vegan Jackfruit Muffins from Magical Ingredients

 

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Mini Peanut Butter Cup Muffins!

 .

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Twists #BreadBakers

These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Twists are made with an enriched brioche dough filled with peanut butter and chocolate chips and baked till golden. Enjoy them with a cold glass of milk or a cup of tea.

I’ve always been a fan of peanut butter cups but find they are a little too sweet for me these days. Recently I was introduced to the Trader Joe’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups and, boy, howdy, are those guys good! 

They were my inspiration for this month’s Bread Bakers’ theme which is “favorite breads.” Who wouldn’t love a soft brioche twist filled with the perennial favorite combination of peanut butter and chocolate?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Twists

This recipe is adapted from James Morton’s first fabulous baking book, Brilliant Bread. I also have one of his other books, Super Sourdough and can highly recommend both. If you have a stand mixer, I recommend you use it for this recipe. The dough is really sticky to knead by hand. 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon dry active yeast

1/3 cup or 78ml milk, slightly warmed

2 cups or 250g strong white bread flour -18g

1/4 cup or 57g sourdough starter (fed or discard)

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/3 cup or 75g unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup or 194g creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup or 85g semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method

In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the sugar and yeast with the warm milk and two tablespoons of the flour. Leave it for about five minutes. If the yeast has started foaming up, proceed with the next step. If not, your yeast is old and should be replaced. 

Add the flour, the sourdough starter, egg, yolk, milk and salt and combine to form a soft dough. 

Knead your dough for about 5–10 minutes, or until it is really starting to come together.  Add the soft butter and continue to knead until it passes the windowpane test, at least another 5 minutes. 

Cover and leave in a warm place to prove for one hour, or until doubled in size. Alternatively, leave to rest in the fridge for 10–14 hours.

Turn your proved dough out onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkle some more flour on top. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a big square about 15 in or 38cm wide. 

Spread the peanut butter over one half. If your peanut butter is too stiff to spread easily, warm it slightly with a couple of quick zaps in a microwave. 

Sprinkle the chocolate chips onto the peanut butter. 

Fold your dough over to seal the peanut butter and chocolate chips. 

Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into strips. I got 10 strips out of mine but you can cut thicker or thinner strips, according to your preference.

Twist each strip and place them on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper or a silicone liner. I couldn’t squeeze all 10 in one pan, try as I might. If yours are also too much for your biggest pan, put the remainers in a smaller pan. Don't crowd them because they need room to rise. 

Cover lightly with cling film and leave to rise for about an hour. At least half an hour before you’re going to bake, preheat your oven to 450°F or 232°C.

When you are ready to bake, turn your oven down to 410°F or 210°C and bake the twists for 10–15 minutes, until they are a light golden brown. We want them to stay soft and pillowy. 

I meant to turn my pans around halfway through because I know my oven doesn't brown evenly but we were watching the UEFA 2020 final and I completely forgot. If your oven has the same issues, you might want to turn your pan around at about the 7 minute mark. Also the extra ones were on a different oven shelf and got a bit darker. Still soft and delicious though! 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the baking pan for a few minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack and store in an airtight container. 

Enjoy! 

As I mentioned above, our Bread Bakers' theme this month is Favorite Breads. Many thanks to our host Kelly of A Messy Kitchen. Check out the great recipe links below. 

• Blueberry Pistachio Chocolate Sourdough from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
  
• Cinnamon-Honey Raisin Bagels from What Smells So Good?
  
• Cranberry Yeast Bread from A Messy Kitchen
• Garlic Rolls from Passion Kneaded 
• Hemp and Honey Whole Wheat Bread from Ambrosia
  
• Lemon Zucchini Loaf from A Day in the Life on the Farm
  
• No Knead Sourdough Sandwich Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Twists from Food Lust People Love
• Sourdough Boule from Sneha's Recipe

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Twists!

.

Chocolate Pixies

Chocolate Pixies are a magical combination of chewy, crunchy, chocolatey and nutty, baked with a light coating of powdered pixie dust aka icing sugar.

Years ago I came across a recipe in Gourmet magazine for baked treats they called “chocolate crackle cookies.” The actual magazine belonged to a friend so I photocopied it and stuck it in my recipe binder. 

As you can see from the photo, that recipe has been well used over the years. It’s a fun one to make with children because they love rolling the dough into the requisite balls. Never mind that they also tend to get powdered sugar everywhere, that’s part of the sweet fun. 

Which brings me to the recipe I’m sharing today. Our Sunday FunDay host today is Sue of Palatable Pastime. She chose the theme of Midsummer Night’s Dream and encouraged us to celebrate by sharing recipes that would delight the faerie folk. 

I immediate started researching recipes online and found MANY for chocolate pixies. About 110,000,000 Google results, if you can imagine. That’s a lot of pixie cookie recipes! Turns out that I’ve been making a sort of chocolate pixie cookie for 26 years, just by another name. Who knew? 

Chocolate Pixies

This recipe makes four dozen cookies and was adapted from one on Big Oven. The dough freezes beautifully, if you don’t want to bake them all in the same day. 

Ingredients

For the cookie dough:

1/4 cup or 57g butter

4 oz or 113g unsweetened chocolate

2 cups or 250g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups or 400g sugar

1/2 cup, finely chopped, or 53g pecans

3 eggs, lightly beaten

To coat dough before baking:

1 cup or 125g icing sugar

Method

Use a sharp knife to finely chop the pecans. 

In a microwavable bowl, melt butter and chocolate in the microwave in 15-20 seconds zaps, stirring in between, until both are completely melted and the mixture is smooth.

Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and stir to combine.  

Add in the sugar, chopped pecans and eggs. 

Stir till well combined. It will be quite a stiff dough and a good workout for your stirring arm. 

Cover the dough with cling film and press it down to make sure no air is touching the dough and refrigerate at least 1 hour for easier handling.

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 300°F or 149°C and prepare two cookie sheets by lining them with baking parchment or silicone liners. 

Use a spoon or scoop to divide the dough into small pieces, a little smaller than a ping pong ball. 

Shape each piece into a ball and roll it in the icing sugar. 

Put them on a clean plate to catch the icing sugar that inevitably falls off as you transfer them. You don’t want that much on your cookie sheet. 

Place the balls 2 inches apart on your prepared cookie sheets. Still a little sugar on the pan, just not as much.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until edges are set, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through so they cook evenly.

Remove the chocolate pixies from the cookie sheets and place on wire racks to cool completely. 

Repeat the process until all the dough is rolled, sugared and baked into cookies.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and, as previously mentioned, we are celebrating A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Check out all the recipes below. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Magical Cookie Bars by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Butterfly Cupcakes by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Chocolate Pixies by Food Lust People Love
• Magical Meringue Mushrooms: Queen Mab's Dining Table by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Pixie Stix Candy Straws by Palatable Pastime
• Blueberry Lavender Mini Cheesecakes by Making Miracles
• Beetroot & Chocolate Mini Muffins by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Fruity Birthday Cake by Sneha's Recipe

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin these Chocolate Pixies!

.