If you're new here, subscribe to the RSS feed for regular updates direct to your Feedreader. Thanks for visiting! 
A little while ago, I had hot chocolate at the famed Angelina in Paris. It was the most expensive hot chocolate of my life at €7.20. Served in a pitcher with a small pot of whipped cream, the hot chocolate is what dreams are made of.
The hot chocolate at Angelina (L’Africain) is rich and smooth, and what I really appreciated: served at just the right temperature. If it were any thicker, it’d be melted chocolate. The marble topped tables, the Rococo interiors, the immaculately dressed waitresses, the flashlights on every other table (people recording one of their most important days in Paris) make the Angelina experience a memorable one. And while you’re at it, an order of Mont Blanc won’t hurt.
I can’t afford to drink hot chocolate at Angelina everyday, so I began making my version of rich hot chocolate every time the craving stuck (which is often, now that it’s getting cold and grey). It’s thick, dark and wonderfully creamy. Like all things sinful, it’s best to use the richest milk and cream. I even indulged with an inch of vanilla in the milk. Use chocolate that’s upwards of 55%. I didn’t add any sugar, but you might want to sweeten it a bit if you’re using 70% chocolate. The key here is to be liberal with all the ingredients, and then once ready, serve them in the prettiest cups you own.
Thick and Velvety Hot Chocolate Recipe
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 7 minutes
Yield: 2
Ingredients
- 200ml / 1 cup milk
- 100ml / 1/2 cup cream
- 1 inch vanilla, split and scraped (optional)
- 100g the best chocolate you can get 55% upwards (I've used 70% callebaut and 50 something Valrhona)
- whipped cream to serve
Cooking Directions
- Heat the milk and cream together in a pan with the vanilla. Once it comes to a simmer, turn off the heat and cover the pot for the vanilla to infuse into the milk. Let it sit for 20 minutes or so.
- Reheat the milk to bring it back to a simmer. Take it off the heat and whisk in the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has completely melted.
- Pour into cups and serve with whipped cream.
I made some rhubarb syrup. Again. This time I used chopped up lemongrass stalks instead of the ginger and I added a peppermint garnish to it.
Whenever I find rhubarb on the shelves, I almost always buy most of it. Because there is so much to be done with it! I’m still in awe of how the very robust stalks transform to a delicate mush. And the pink? The enticing baby pink of the syrup is hard to pass up. Make it.
If the science report on fruit flies’ affinity for fizzy drinks is to be believed, the fruit fly in me is coming to life. I’ve been drinking way too much fizz out of a can because each day seems to be getting hotter than the previous. Really need October to go by quickly. Plus, I’m really looking forward to planting some San Marzano tomatoes and Spanish yellow chillies.
I decided to make myself a bottle of syrup to top some club soda with, instead of drinking the caffeine and sugar concentrated drinks. And when I saw gorgeous hot pink stalks of rhubarb on the market shelves, it was confirmed – I’d make some rhubarb syrup.
This one’s a genius recipe – the variations for this recipe are only limited by your imagination, and better still – there is no waste! You use the syrup for your drinks and the pulp makes a delicious jam spread on toast. Your grandmom will be proud.
Before I move on to the recipe, here are the winners for the two giveaways. Drumroll….
Hand-made silk clutch: Nags from Singapore!
Popina + Vanilla Bean giveaway: Adriana from Oregon, USA!
Congratulations, girls! Please email me your addresses and I will have your goodies sent out to you.
Now, back to the rhubarb recipe.
Rhubarb and Ginger Syrup Recipe
Adapted from: The Kitchn
4 cups / 600-700g pink rhubarb, chopped into cubes
1 inch ginger, sliced
1 cup / 200g sugar
1 cup / 200ml water
- Put all the ingredients together in a saucepan and let it simmer for about 15-20 mintutes, until the rhubarb becomes pulpy and has completely disintegrated. Strain through a sieve and once cooled, store in a sterilised glass bottle.
- I added a few slices of ginger to the bottle so that the flavour of the syrup gets richer as it steeps.
To make the Rhubarb Ginger Fizz: In a glass, throw in a few ice cubes and then add about 3-4 tbsp syrup over it. Pour club soda. Stir. Drink up. Relax.
Variations:
- Skip the ginger, and juliennes of basil leaves right before you turn off the heat.
- Make it plain without any ginger to let the flavour of the rhubarb shine through.
- Split and scrape ½ a pod of vanilla and throw in in while cooking down the rhubarb.
After learning what a riotous combination fruits and yoghurt make together, I’ve been in love with all things fruit + yoghurt (cherry frozen yoghurt coming up!) With Alphonso mangoes aplenty, I’ve been making a lot of mango lassi through the summer and can’t seem to get enough of it.
If you can get your hands on Alphonso mangoes, you really should. Rich, pulpy and smooth as butter these mangoes are bursting with flavour. Blend it with a little sugar and yoghurt and you’ve made yourself the perfect summer drink!
Grandma says the ginger added to the lassi aids digest the mango, but I love the spicy dimension it adds to the sweet mango lassi.
Mango Lassi Recipe
Serves 2-3
Ingredients:
1 large (300g) Alphonso mango, cut into small pieces
450g / 1lb. plain yoghurt
3-4 tbsp sugar (depending on how sweet your mango)
1 tsp ground ginger
½ cup milk
Garnish:
2 tbsp chopped pistachios
Equipment: Food processor or immersion blender
Method:
- Put all the ingredients except the milk in food processor and blend together.
- Add the milk, a little by little until you reach a consistency you like. Throw in some ice cubes.
- Drink up!
