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Warm Drinks

Graveyard Hot Cocoa

Dark, thick drinking chocolate with a whisper of chili and cinnamon — nearly black in the cup, with a cloud of cream on top.

Graveyard Hot Cocoa — Halloween recipe
Prep time
15 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy
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Not the powdered kind. This is proper drinking chocolate: nearly black in the cup, thick enough to coat a spoon, with just enough chili to leave a warmth at the back of the throat.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 5 oz dark chocolate (70%), chopped
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Pinch of cayenne or ancho chili powder
  • Pinch of flaky salt
  • Whipped cream and cocoa for dusting

Instructions

  1. Warm the milk and cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat until steaming.
  2. Whisk in the cocoa powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, chili, and salt until smooth.
  3. Add the chopped chocolate a handful at a time, whisking until each addition disappears.
  4. Keep it just below a simmer for 3 minutes so it thickens — do not let it boil.
  5. Pour into small mugs, crown with whipped cream, and dust with cocoa.

Why it works & making it ahead

Add the chopped chocolate a handful at a time and whisk each addition to nothing before the next, or it will seize. Hold it just under a simmer for three minutes at the end — that is what thickens it. Serve in small cups; it is far richer than it looks.

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