French Hot Chocolate

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Thick and decadent, this French Hot Chocolate is made with two high quality chocolates, whole milk, and heavy cream.  

Hot chocolate is a comfort drink like no other. With its sweetness, rich chocolate flavor, and creamy texture, it’s hard to make a more winter-worthy drink. Enter the French Hot Chocolate: an extra thick, dreamy sipping chocolate that is meant to be savored slowly. Top it with lightly sweetened whipped cream, pair it with a board of your favorite goodies, and enjoy. Let’s make it. 

What you’ll need to make this French Hot Chocolate: 

Semisweet dark chocolate baking portions 

Unsweetened cocoa powder 

Whole milk

Heavy cream 

Granulated sugar 

Pure vanilla extract 

The French Hot Chocolate 

Since 1996, Scharffen Berger has been America’s premier artisan farm-to-bar chocolate, and their new Chocolate Provisions flats are perfect for any dessert board. 

Sourcing the best cacao beans and creating small batches on vintage European equipment gives these exquisite chocolates their unique and delicious flavor.

This French Hot Chocolate starts with two Scharffen Berger chocolates: the semisweet dark chocolate baking portions and the unsweetened cocoa powder.

Begin by placing the milk, cream, both chocolates, and the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the cocoa is nice and thick, about one minute. It should be hot but not boiling as you want to preserve the integrity of the chocolate by not scalding it. Remove the pan from the heat, add the vanilla, and give it another whisk. Divide the hot chocolate between two mugs, and top it with lightly sweetened whipped cream, chocolate curls, or any of the other goodies from the board. 

The Board 

This board features the new Chocolate Provisions by Scharffen Berger, and I used the three varieties of 41% Milk Chocolate, 70% Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt, and 82% Simply Dark.  These chocolates paired stunningly with an array of vanilla meringue, almond biscotti, mini stroopwafles, Belgian butter cookies, cutout heart cookies (you can find that recipe HERE), chocolate dipped strawberries, mini marshmallows, and chocolate curls. 

Arrange all goodies on a wooden board or large plate. Garnish with florals or greenery if desired. Enjoy with the French Hot Chocolate. 

Dietary Substitutions 

I love providing gluten and dairy free substitutions so that those with alternate dietary needs can enjoy my recipes to their fullest! These are subs that I have either used and continue to stock in my own home, or that have come highly recommended from others. I want your baking experience to be the best it can be, and avoiding gluten or dairy shouldn’t hinder that process in the slightest. 

As always, here is a list of tried and true dietary substitutes, so that you can enjoy this hot chocolate without the addition of dairy. 

Scharffen Berger has a wonderful Oat Milk Chocolate Chunks with Coconut Sugar that would be an ideal vegan replacement for the bar chocolate in this recipe.

Silk Plant Based Half and Half Alternative is a great alternative to dairy milk in this recipe. Unsweetened plant based milks would work as well, but the half and half would provide the creaminess that dairy whole milk adds to this recipe.  

Silk Dairy Free Heavy Cream is a great option for replacing the dairy cream in this cocoa. 

A sincere thank you to Scharffen Berger for sponsoring this recipe. Head over to www.scharffenberger.com for the full list of the wonderful chocolates they offer! 

If you loved this French Hot Chocolate, I’d be so grateful for you to leave a 5 star rating + review. 

Tag @heathershomebakery on Instagram if you upload a pic too, because I want to see your creations. 

Lastly, post this recipe to any of your boards by tapping the Pinterest icon and clicking on your favorite photo. Save and enjoy! 

XO, 

Heather 

PS- Love these chocolate curls? This Easy Chocolate Curls blog will have you making your own in no time flat.