By Erica
I think salted caramels might be my favorite food item in the entire world. There's something sublime about the mixture of sweet, buttery caramel with the crunch of fleur de sel. It's the highest form of yin and yang in cooking. Perfectly balanced.
That being said, I am a sucker for salted caramel hot chocolate. But do you have any idea how ridiculously god-awful those cups of goodness are?! And who wants to spend $4 for a hot chocolate that makes you feel guilty? That's a negatory, good buddy. I decided that I was going to create a reasonable substitution for Ye Old Starbucks treat. I'm not going to tell you that this recipe "tastes exactly like the Starbucks version!" because it doesn't. However, it's delicious, has no added sugar and tastes enough like the calorie, fat and sugar-laden original version that you won't feel like you're missing anything.
The Players:
Sugar substitite of your choice (I like Ideal), Sugar Free Caramel Topping, Cocoa, Milk, Sugar Free Caramel Coffee Syrup, Sea Salt.
The basic hot chocolate recipe:
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar (substitute)
1/4 cocoa powder
4 cups of milk
Bring water and sugar (substitute) to a boil.
Add cocoa powder.
Bring to a boil, then add 4 cups of milk. (This is the only ingredient that has sugar, as milk has natural sugars in it.)
Bring this back to a boil and add 2 tbs of caramel syrup.
As it's coming back to a boil, go ahead and get your mug ready. Oh yes, there are Mug Preparations to make.
Begin by adding enough caramel topping to coat the bottom of the mug.
Add a healthy pinch or two of sea salt. Don't use regular table salt, for the love of gawd! Sea Salt, Fleur de Sel or even Kosher Salt are all acceptable. Table salt IS NOT.
Add the hot chocolate mixture to the mug and let it sit for 30 seconds or so to melt the caramel and salt.
Give it a stir and a taste. Add a little more salt or caramel if you think it needs it. The reason I add the caramel and salt to the mug and not to the hot chocolate is so that I can customize it based on who's drinking or what I'm feeling like right then. Sometimes I want it sweeter, sometimes saltier. This makes four good-sized mugs worth. If you don't use it all at once, put it into a plastic container and put it in the fridge. It's super easy to warm up in the microwave the next time you get a craving. Also, my daughter doesn't like hot chocolate, but loves the base mixture chilled as chocolate milk.
If you could spill a little on your kitchen mug because it's ridiculously difficult to cook AND take pictures, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
{All Photos credit: Moi}
The pictures are great and super helpful
Posted by: lauren | December 06, 2010 at 04:21 PM