European Hot Chocolate

The most decadent recipe for European hot chocolate, made with milk, cream and good quality dark chocolate for a delicious and indulgent treat. You’ll also find many flavor variations in today’s post, including peppermint, bourbon, espresso, gingerbread, black velvet and more!

You might also love these recipes for easy chocolate espresso mousse, chocolate cream filled doughnuts with espresso sugar, and chocolate cinnamon rolls.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Rich, Creamy and Indulgent. European hot chocolate, also called sipping chocolate, is known for being a dessert in and of itself. It’s thick and rich with milk and cream, with a deep dark chocolate flavor that’s just incredible. Once you taste real hot chocolate, you’ll never want to drink another watery, overly sweet packet of hot cocoa mix.

Pure Chocolate. This is a drink that almost tastes like a thin chocolate ganache, and there’s nothing wrong with that. For the best results, use a good quality dark chocolate that contains about 70% cacao. You can certainly add sugar, if you like your chocolate a touch sweeter.

Perfect for the Holidays. For a decadent (and easy) dessert, serve this to your guests after a holiday dinner. Make it even more fun by setting up a hot chocolate bar with toppings to choose from such as sweetened whipped cream, homemade vanilla bean marshmallows, shaved chocolate or chocolate curls, cinnamon sticks, candy canes, ground spices in cute shaker jars and an assortment of cookies and biscotti.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Hot Chocolate

• Milk + Cream. For a rich, creamy consistency, use whole milk and heavy whipping cream. Unsweetened canned coconut milk is also a wonderfully creamy non-dairy alternative.
• Chocolate. Choose a good quality dark chocolate with around 70% cacao content.
• Sugar. Sweeten your hot chocolate to taste with dark brown sugar.
• Cocoa Powder. This is optional, but if you want to deepen the flavor of the chocolate even more, you can add a little unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder.

Whipped Cream

• Heavy Whipping Cream. You’ll need to keep your cream cold, so that you can whip it to soft fluffy peaks.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and stabilizes the whipped cream.

Instructions

Hot Chocolate

• Finely chop the chocolate, so that you have a mix of pea-sized chunks and smaller shards.

• In a saucepan, combine the milk, cream and chopped chocolate. Place the saucepan over medium heat and warm the mixture, whisking frequently, until the mixture is steaming hot (but not boiling) and the chocolate is melted and smooth.

• Taste the hot chocolate and add the brown sugar if you like it sweeter, stirring until dissolved. To add a richer chocolate flavor, whisk in the cocoa powder.
• Pour the hot chocolate into 2 large mugs or 4 small cups. Serve with whipped cream or marshmallows and chocolate shavings.

Whipped Cream

• Whip the cream and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until soft, fluffy peaks form.
• Spoon on top of the hot chocolate.

Recipe Variations

• Peppermint. Add 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (not mint extract).
• Bourbon or Rum. Turn this into a spiked cocktail with a tablespoon or two of your favorite bourbon, whiskey or dark spiced rum.
• Vanilla. Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or ground vanilla bean powder for a smooth vanilla flavor that complements the dark chocolate.
• Espresso. For a hint of coffee flavor, add 1-2 teaspoons instant espresso powder.
• Spicy. For a Mexican inspired hot chocolate, add a pinch of cayenne pepper or chili powder.
• Black Velvet. For a rich, dark cup of black velvet hot chocolate, add 1-2 tablespoons black cocoa powder.

• Gingerbread. For a cozy cup of spiced gingerbread hot chocolate, add 2 teaspoons molasses, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger, and a small pinch of ground cloves and/or cardamom.
• Dairy Free. You can make this recipe dairy free or vegan by using both a dairy free milk and dairy free chocolate. My favorite plant-based milk for this hot chocolate recipe is unsweetened full fat canned coconut milk, which is rich, thick, creamy and so delicious with the chocolate.
• Italian. In Italy, their version of hot chocolate is a bit different from the French, in that they thicken it with corn starch. The corn starch adds body, and the result is a very thick and rich mixture that’s really more like a spoonable chocolate pudding than a drink. Italian hot chocolate is ideal for dipping things in, like biscotti, churros, lady fingers or doughnuts. Add 2-3 teaspoons corn starch when the milk is cold, then heat the mixture, whisking until thickened.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use chocolate chips instead of a bar of chocolate?

No, you really can’t use chocolate chips for European hot chocolate. Chocolate chips contain stabilizers, which prevent them from melting smoothly, so you’ll have little grains throughout your hot chocolate rather than a smooth, creamy mixture.

Will this recipe work with just milk and no cream?

Sure, it will work just fine, it just won’t taste quite as rich.

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