Cioccolata Calda or The most AMAZING Hot Chocolate EVER!

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and we're celebrating a few birthdays. 

The first is Mr. Got All Mom's Genes. My green -eyed, blonde-haired baby is growing up! We celebrate birthdays all week because WE CAN. So, here are some cupcakes with sparkler candles. It was fun just to sit and watch them.

 I don't know if I've shared this picture but probably you recognize the kitty. Poor guy. He got in a fight with some neighborhood gangster and has a scratch on his ear. So sad. But my youngest learned not to put band-aids on furry cats. They don't appreciate it. 

 We've all been reminiscing about summer. Have I mentioned it's raining? Yes? Well, it still is. And cold. Blah. We need some snow, or some sun. Preferably both.

 A throwback snapshot of our kitty. One of my kids needed a place to put his crayon so it didn't get lost. I found the cat this way. Talk about a deep sleeper.
                                                         
                                                                             

So, my friend was telling me that if I haven't had Italian Alps hot chocolate, I haven't HAD hot chocolate.

I begged to differ. I drink Mexican hot chocolate with pan Mexicano so...  don't come at me with that "you've never lived" junk. LOL

 But after seeing those pictures, I decided to try it out. Some recipes use half and half, some use arrow root.  I'm not allergic to corn starch so I used that and it worked perfectly.
You'll need:
4 cups milk
5Tbs good powdered chocolate
5TBS condensed milk
2TBS corn starch
sugar to taste
vanilla to taste

 Dissolve the corn starch a few TBS of hot milk. Heat the milk, condensed milk, chocolate and corn starch together until boiling. Stirring constantly, let it cook at a simmer or low boil for four minutes or so.

 If you'd like to add anything to it, add when removing from the heat.  I added crushed chocolate covered espresso beans. OH, YUMMY!

 Pour into cups or small ramekins. Don't drink immediately. It's VERY HOT.
                                              
 Grate chocolate over the top and let it melt a little.

 As it cooled, I could smell the coffee/chocolate all over the house.

 I was a little worried when I dipped into it that I'd made pudding. (Oh, who am I kidding? I was not worried in the SLIGHTEST. Pudding is delicious.)

 But it was still liquid, so I guess we could still call it hot chocolate.

I did have to eat it with a spoon, but my kids drank it down (they got the espresso free version, FYI, before anybody calls the cops).
Well, that's all for now! Feel free to stop by my author page at Mary Jane Hathaway, my other author page at Virginia Carmichael, my blog at The Things that Last, or visit me at Huffington Post Books. Keep warm, eat delicious food, and embrace the joy in this short life!