Hot Chocolate
Hot Chocolate
Makes 4 servings
We used to serve a great deal of hot chocolate in the restaurant, both with and without Mocha Whipped Cream. I think people would be astonished if they knew the quantities of certain items even a small restaurant needs to make. Cafe Beaujolais only had 55 chairs, and we used to make 5 gallons of hot chocolate at a time. Let’s see, that would be about one and a half cups per chair!
3 tablespoons white sugar
6 tablespoons sweetened hot chocolate powder (I use Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate)
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (I use Scharffen Berger)
4 cups milk
Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and whisk over medium heat until combined. Serve hot or cold. If you have a steamer, use it to make a creamy drink.
Mom’s Cocoa Syrup
Makes about 3¼ cups
The memory of this delicious chocolate milk from my childhood prompted this recipe, an adaptation of my mother’s from about forty-five years ago. She and I fiddled with the ingredients until we had something that met the expectations of our taste buds today. I think the combination of the flavorings gives a Mexican twist, but my mom, a fiend for authenticity, will have nothing to do with that, hence the current name.
1 cup unsweetened cocoa (Scharffen Berger)
1½ cups white sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup hot water
3 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate
1 teaspoon dry instant coffee
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
In a saucepan, mix together the cocoa, sugar, salt, and water and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil gently for 3 minutes.
Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and coffee, stir, and set aside until cool.
Add the remaining ingredients and refrigerate.
Stir 1 heaping tablespoon of the syrup with 1 cup milk. Heat, and serve dusted with cinnamon. Also delicious served cold.
Mocha Whipped Cream
Makes about 2¼ cups
For an intense mocha hit, add this to any chocolate or coffee drink, alcoholic or not.
1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 ounces (by weight) semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 teaspoons dry instant coffee
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
In a small pot over low heat, warm and whisk all the ingredients just until the chocolate is melted.
Transfer to another container and refrigerate until very cold, at least 4 hours. Whip before serving.
Kemper’s Domestic Wet
Makes 4 servings
Michael Kemper, an artist who worked the cashier/espresso station, invented two refreshing drinks. The nonalcoholic Domestic Wet combines tart and sweet flavors with a bubbly fizz. Serve with a brightly colored straw and a sprig of fresh mint.
1⅔ cups grape juice
¾ cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (ruby provides a colorful touch)
1¼ cups soda water
Mix the juices together, add the soda water, stir, and pour over ice-filled glasses. Serve immediately.
Kemper’s Wet & Wild
Makes 4 servings
Uses the same flavors as the Domestic Wet, but added to still and sparkling wines. Offerings from Navarro Vineyards in Anderson Valley have long been a favorite of mine, and their grape juices and Gewürztraminer wine are particularly well suited for this drink. If unavailable, use a good-quality grape juice and a white wine that is not very dry.
1⅔ cups cold grape juice
½ cup cold, freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (ruby preferred)
¾ cup Gewürztraminer or other white wine
1½ cups sparkling wine
Mix together juices and Gewürztraminer. Divide among the glasses, and top off with the sparkling wine. Serve immediately.
Rhubarb-Lemonade Fizz
Makes 2 servings
We served a lot of this on hot summer days. Well, we actually didn’t have that many hot summer days on the north coast, so we served it on foggy summer days, on cold winter days, and whenever else we felt like it.
Combine the syrup and lemonade, and pour into 2 ice-filled glasses. Top with soda water and garnish with a mint sprig.
Rhuby Cocktail
Pour syrup into a champagne glass and add a small amount of wine. Stir briefly and top off with more sparkling wine.
Rhubarb Syrup
Bring syrup to a boil over medium heat. Skim the foam that rises to the top and reduce by one-third. Stir occasionally. Add lemon juice to taste. Be careful not to overcook or the syrup will caramelize and turn an unappetizing brown.
Lemonade
Nothing beats thirst-quenching lemonade—and we generated a lot of lemon juice at the restaurant. Lemon peel went into so many recipes, it wasn’t uncommon to see three cases of “naked” lemons in the walk-in refrigerator. The juice was frozen and used as needed. Simple Syrup, common in restaurants and bars, is a handy thing to know about because it ensures your lemonade will have no undissolved sugar. It’s good for iced tea for the same reason. Try a shot of this lemonade in tea over ice for a different flavor.
1¾ cups home-squeezed lemon juice
3½ cups water
Mix the ingredients together and serve over ice. Garnish with mint.
Simple Syrup
Mix water and sugar in a small pot. Bring to a boil and let cook, over medium-low heat, for 5 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat and let cool, then refrigerate. Keeps indefinitely.
