Very little beats a thick, dark hot chocolate on a chilly day, except adding a bit of red wine to it! Not just as an afterthought, but cooked along with the chocolate so the flavour mellows but adds something special to the end result, not super wine-y, but complex and grown up. Can you skip it? Sure, it’ll still be the hot chocolate of your dreams!
I’d made this a few years ago after seeing a Saveur recipe, then revisited it with new photos. This time while making it for my family, I made a slight change to the proportions and decided to update this post one more time. This makes one very generous or two smaller servings which is great if you’re a small household, but it also scales up easily.
The hot chocolate reheats well and keeps in the fridge for a day or maybe even two. As I said, it’s not super boozy like it would be if you add an alcohol at the end, but cooking it down is somehow even more delicious, especially if you like your boozy flavours slightly mild.
Without it, it’s still a lovely classic hot chocolate if you don’t or can’t drink alcohol. This is exaaaactly what winter needs. Happy holidays!
Red Wine Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup red wine (60 ml) (any kind you like to drink, I used a Shiraz)
- 115 gms dark chocolate, finely chopped (60% to 75% dark depending on your preference, or a mix of dark and bitter)
- 3/4th cup whole milk, at room temperature (190 ml)
- 2 to 3 tbsps water, at room temperature
- 1 to 2 tbsps caster sugar, depending on how sweet you want it
- Whipped cream to serve, optional
Instructions
- In a saucepan on low heat, combine the chocolate and wine. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes till the chocolate has melted. Stir constantly to prevent burning and take the pan off the heat every few seconds. The mixture will look fairly thick and glossy. If skipping the wine, see notes.
- Pour in half the milk and stir to combine, then pour in the rest. Stir again (a silicone spatula is best), then add the water and sugar. Let it simmer for another couple of minutes. Taste and add more sugar if you like, or more milk/water to thin it out further.
- Pour into two mugs (for small but satisfying servings, or just use one mug for a large and decadent serving!) and serve hot with whipped cream! As I said in the post above, the red wine flavour is subtle but adds depth to the hot chocolate. If you want a stronger flavour, add a splash more in before you drink it 🙂 Leftovers can be cooled to room temperature and refrigerated for a day.
Notes
