Edible Gifts – Spicy Hot Chocolate Mix

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A friend calls butterfly her chocolate girl ever since she’s met her, which must be some four years back. Probably because of her craze for chocolate. Extra dark, dark, semi sweet or milk – anything with the surname chocolate will do! Hence it’s easier to please (read bribe!) her too. Just hand her a bar of chocolate and all her sorrows just melt away. But isn’t that the case with any kid? Most of who I know at least!

So as the holiday season approaches and we slide into the festive mode, always the first thing on my list is making a big batch of homemade hot chocolate mix. A ready to use jar of hot the mix in your pantry makes it easier to prepare if you are in mood to cozy up inside the warmth of a blanket or by the fire with a mug (or two). It’s always a plus when the kiddo is helping around and convincing her to help with recipe is easier than others.

Other practice I’ve adopted in the recent years is preparing edible gifts for my friends and family. Nothing better to satisfy your holiday cooking cravings and I like how I can add my own personal touch to these homemade gifts. In the past years I wrapped some Chocolate Surprise Cookies, Cocoa Covered Pistachio Truffles, Bourban Kissed Spicy Pecans and one or the other version of hot chocolate mix as a gift for my friends. Hot chocolate mix, a staple in all my holiday gift bags, I cannot believe I never shared here before. So today I decided to correct the mistake and start my edible gift posts this season with a spicy version of my favorite hot chocolate mix. I normally use Deb’s Hot Chocolate Mix recipe and then give it some spin. Base recipe is more or less the same because it’s a keeper and trust me when I say this because I’ve tried to play around with a LOT and find myself falling back to it. So I used this recipe but had to “Indianize” it, so I warmed it up a little bit with cardamom and cloves. I felt like adding an extra kick to it this year so I threw in some cayenne as well. Out came a recipe that I think is definitely a winner. You try and let me know.

Ingredients: Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Granulated Sugar- 1/2 cup

Bittersweet Chocolate- 3 oz (roughly chopped)

Cocoa Powder- 1/2 cup (I used Belgian, you can use any kind)

Cornstarch- 1 tablespoon

Cardamom pods- 5-6

Cloves- 8-10

Cayenne pepper- 1/4 teaspoon

Sea Salt- 1/8 teaspoon

Method:

Bring cardamom, cloves and cayenne in a spice mixer. Blend to powder.

Mix with rest of the ingredients in a food processor. Blend until its powdery. Transfer to an air tight container.

If you do not have a food processor, chop (or grate) the chocolate until fine. Mix with rest of the ingredients.

To make hot chocolate- Bring milk (any kind if fine) to boil. Add 2-3 tablespoons of choco mix. Stir until dissolved. Serve hot.

Some other Edible Gifts inspiration by friends:

Spicy Caramel Cashew Corn by Yossy of Apt. 2B

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramels by Heather of Flourishing Foodie

Gingerbread Syrup by Shelly of Vegetarian Ventures

Simply UHmazing Cookies! by Alana of Fix Feast Flair

Frosted Birthday Cake Cookies by Cindy of Hungry Girl Por Vida

Dark Chocolate Bark with Coffee Pistachios by Sherrie of With Food + Love

Moroccan Spiced Pepitas by Sarah of Snixy Kitchen

Mom’s Chocolate Almond English Toffee by Sarah of Snixy Kitchen

Coastal Crackers by Sophie of Whole Hearted Eats

Easy Edible Gift Ideas by Ashlae of Oh Lady Cooks

Edible Gift Guide by Melissa of The Faux Martha