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Extra-rich hot chocolate

Melted chocolate rather than a spoon of powder

Easy5 min hands-on · 10 min totalServes 1
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A mug of thick, glossy dark hot chocolate, steaming, filled almost to the rim.

Scales by the mug. Warm two portions together in a slightly larger pan rather than one at a time.

Cocoa powder whisked into hot milk makes a thin sort of hot chocolate, and this is not that. A block of plain dark chocolate goes in broken into small pieces once the milk and cream are hot enough to melt it on contact, closer to a drinking chocolate from a good café than anything from a tin. A spoon of sugar balances the chocolate's bitterness, and the cream underneath makes the whole thing thick enough to coat the inside of the mug. Warm it gently rather than fast, and it never gets the chance to catch on the pan.

Suits after surgery, a narrowed bowel, chemotherapy diarrhoea, a new stoma, during pelvic radiotherapy, after a low anterior resection

Tags Quick · Easily fortified

Ingredients

Contains: Milk

  • 200 mlwhole milk
  • 50 mldouble cream
  • 40 gdark chocolate, plain, broken into small pieces
  • 1 tspsugar — optional

Method

  1. Heat the milk and cream together in a small pan over a low to medium heat until steaming, with small bubbles at the edge, but not boiling.

  2. Take the pan off the heat, add the chocolate pieces and leave for a minute so they start to melt, then whisk until completely smooth and glossy.

  3. Return to a low heat with the sugar if you are using it, and warm through for a minute, stirring, without letting it boil.

  4. Pour into a warm mug and drink while it is properly hot.

Watch-points

  • Use a plain dark chocolate with no fruit or nuts running through it. Check the label on a flavoured bar before you buy it.
  • Warm the milk gently and keep an eye on it. Once the chocolate is in, do not let the pan reach a full boil, or it can catch and turn grainy.

Stoma note: Sweet, rich and warm all at once, this can loosen output if a large mug goes down quickly. Sip a small mug and see how it sits.

Make it more nourishing

  • Whisk a tablespoon of skimmed milk powder into the cold milk before it heats, for about 4 g more protein and 45 kcal.
  • Use an extra 15 g of chocolate, which thickens the mug and adds around 80 kcal.
  • Float 2 tablespoons of whipped double cream on the surface of the finished mug, for about 135 kcal more.

Swaps

Instead of dark chocolate, use a good drinking chocolate powder or cocoa mixed with extra sugar
quicker, though the result is thinner and less rich
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