Chocolat Chaud

(adapted from Pierre Hermé)

Jeffrey Steingarten writing for Vogue Magazine

We usually stop for chocolat chaud at Angelina when we're in Paris during the cold weather. Once we found this recipe at home we immediately tried it; now it's a staple of ours!

• 2 1/4 cups whole milk (or 2 1/2 cups 1% milk and no water)
• 1/4 cup bottled still water
• 1/4 cup (generous) superfine granulated sugar

• 1 100-gram bar (3 1/2 ounces) dark bittersweet chocolate—Scharffen Berger, Valrhona, or Lindt (we use a Lindt 70% bar)—finely sliced with a serrated bread knife
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder, loosely packed, preferably Valhrona

1. In a 2-quart saucepan, stir together the milk, water and sugar.
2. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
3. Add the chopped chocolate and the cocoa and bring to a boil again, whisking until the chocolate and cocoa are dissolved and the mixture has thickened. Reduce the heat to very low.
4. Blend for 5 minutes with an immersion mixer or whirl the hot chocolate in a standard blender for half a minute, until thick and foamy. Yield: Four 6-ounce cups of hot chocolate.
5. Optional: serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Note: The Mayans and the Aztecs considered the froth the best part. Today, five minutes with an immersion mixer or a blender accomplishes what a half hour of beating did long ago.