Serious Hot Cocoa

Hi, it's Yoko!

I woke up this morning to a chill in the air and it already feels like fall. *yawn*

I wanted something warming, so today I made a "serious" hot cocoa (lol) and I'm sharing it with you!

Serious hot cocoa

Ingredients (serves 2)

Cocoa powder: 2 tablespoons
Unrefined cane sugar (kibi sugar): 3 teaspoons
Milk: 300 ml

Instructions

1. Put the cocoa in a pot and toast it over low heat for a few dozen seconds, stirring well with a whisk. When it smells fragrant, add the sugar and mix well.

2. Add just a little milk and mix well, crushing any lumps, until the cocoa becomes a glossy paste.

3. Once the lumps are completely gone, add the milk little by little, mixing well each time. When the surface turns whitish and fine bubbles appear around the edge of the pot, turn off the heat. Done.

Tips

Be picky about the cocoa!

It's "serious" cocoa, so I want to be particular about the ingredients (lol). I use pure cocoa powder from VALRHONA, the French pastry chocolate maker founded in 1922. (Pure means it's pure cocoa with no sugar added.)
I buy it at TOMIZ, a Japanese baking supply shop.

I first knew Valrhona for its couverture chocolate for baking, and when I later found out they make cocoa powder too, I bought it right away (lol).

It's a darker brown than ordinary cocoa, with a lovely aroma and deep richness, so I highly recommend it!

You can use it not just for hot cocoa but for cocoa pound cake, dusting truffles... basically any chocolate sweet!

And between us, cocoa is also delicious sprinkled on risotto!

Be picky about the sugar!

After toasting the cocoa, always mix in the sugar before adding the milk.

Sugar draws water to itself, so if sugar gets in between the cocoa particles, it prevents lumps.

I recommend unrefined cane sugar (kibi sugar). Unlike refined white sugar (jouhakuto), it keeps the minerals of the sugar cane, which add richness and umami!

By the way, sanontou (a Japanese brown sugar) is a similar light brown color to kibi sugar.

It's refined white sugar that has been boiled down and caramelized.

So in terms of composition it's nearly the same as white sugar or granulated sugar.

Granulated sugar gives a clean, elegant sweetness, so choose whichever you like!

Be picky about the milk!

Look at the milk fat content and the pasteurization temperature! Lower milk fat gives a lighter taste, and higher gives a richer, creamier one.

Personally, for a cocoa with a punchy flavor, I like a richer milk.

Today I used Yotsuba's Hokkaido Tokachi Tokusen 4.0 milk, which is on the rich side.

As for pasteurization temperature, milk pasteurized slowly at a low temperature seems more flavorful than milk pasteurized instantly at a high temperature, so I often choose low-temperature pasteurized milk.

Toasting the cocoa brings out its aroma

Like sesame seeds or nori, applying heat drives off excess moisture and brings out the aroma.

That's why we toast the cocoa lightly.

If you don't want to bother with a pot, about 30 seconds in the microwave has a similar effect.

Never let it boil

If it boils, a skin of protein forms on top and the texture suffers!

That skin is actually flavor that was dissolved in the milk, so heat gently on low and take it off the heat just before it boils!

The health benefits of cocoa are impressive!

Cocoa is said to be not only tasty but good for you.

First, it apparently improves circulation. Even more so as hot cocoa.

It's also said to help lower blood sugar and to have antioxidant effects.

It also contains theobromine, said to have a relaxing effect, and magnesium, which helps with calcium absorption.

A ratio of 2 parts calcium to 1 part magnesium is said to improve calcium absorption, so if you want to keep that in mind, use 15 g of cocoa for 250 ml of milk.
*Milk contains about 100 mg of calcium per 100 ml, and cocoa about 40 mg of magnesium per 10 g.

Store-bought hot cocoa is good too, but homemade lets you adjust the sweetness to your taste and, above all, it's relaxing, so please give it a try!

As long as you don't let it boil, you can easily make it in the microwave too.