Heston Blumenthal's hot chocolate

For me, the best hot chocolate is made with dark chocolate, but how to cut through the bitterness of dark chocolate without making this recipe too sweet? Add a pinch of salt! This unexpected magic ingredient decreases the bitterness without adding any sweetness at all.

How To Cook Like Heston Credit: How To Cook Like Heston

• serves

  2

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 350 ml cold tap water
• 50 g dark drinking chocolate
• 40 ml whipping cream
• 120 ml semi-skimmed milk
• pinch of salt
• 65 g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces (minimum 60% cocoa solids)

Instructions

Put the water and drinking chocolate into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. When simmering, add the whipping cream, semi-skimmed milk and salt, and stir to combine.

Pour over the chopped chocolate pieces and whisk to dissolve. Using a hand blender, aerate the chocolate before pouring into a big mug to serve.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.