After seeing lots of cute hot chocolate stations on Pinterest I decided to set one up in my kitchen for my little grandchildren as they love a mug of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows and chocolate buttons on the top.  There’s nothing nicer on a cold & dark night than curling up with a mug of hot chocolate and it’s perfect for a girls night in where everyone can choose their own toppings.

The ultimate experience in hot chocolate has to be Angelina in Paris and I always stop there for a cup of it and a pastry. This recipe is delicious and is perhaps the closest to Angelinas as far as homemade hot chocolate goes.

Recipe

2 teasp vanilla paste

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1 and a half tablesp cornflour

1 and a half tablesp cocoa powder

70g dark chocolate

20g milk chocolate

2 and a half tablespoons double cream

700ml full cream milk

Method

Put milk, vanilla paste & sugar into a pan and heat gently until steaming. Put cocoa powder & cornflour into a cup and mix well with a little of the hot milk. Add to milk in pan and whisk for around 4 minutes until it starts to thicken. Add in the broken up chocolate and stir through until melted and then stir through the double cream before serving.

Of course I don’t always make this one and the shop bought cocoa powder is what I generally use but this recipe is lovely for a special treat or to make for visitors.

For a little treat to serve with hot chocolate or any other  hot drinks these little Oreo mallows are perfect and super easy to make. Ideal for baking with kids too!

You’ll need a bag of marshmallows, large bar of Cadburys choc and around 6 crushed Oreo biscuits. Melt choc in microwave and dip the bottom of each mallow in then dip into crushed Oreos before placing on greaseproof paper to set.

Another cute idea to serve with hot chocolate are homemade chocolate stirrers. For these you’ll need washed out mini yoghurt pots, lolly sticks , melted choc , cupcake cases and crushed smarties.

Melt the chocolate and half fill each mini yoghurt pot with the choc before sprinkling crushed smarties on top.  Then place stick in the centre and cut a small hole in each cup cake case to sit over pot and hold stick in place. Put in fridge until set and then push out of pot. These are perfect for stirring through hot milk or hot chocolate and again are great for making with kids.

So here’s to lots of cosy nights in with steaming mugs of hot chocolate and marshmallows!

Louise xxx