Christina and Tammy with the blog Food Apparel show us how to make homemade hot chocolate and set up a picture perfect hot chocolate bar.
Hot Chocolate Bar:
Choose your hot chocolate bases. Keep it simple because you`ll be letting each guest add their flavors and customizations later! We love making a classic hot chocolate and also a white hot chocolate so there are two options, but just one is also fine. If you want to keep it even simpler, pick up a hot chocolate mix at the store, but make sure you stick with a plain milk chocolate.
Have a variety of mix-in flavors. Here are some of our favorites:
Different syrups: mint, toffee, hazelnut, caramel, raspberry, orange (local supermarkets carry Torani brand or you can buy syrups from Starbucks; also check out Amazon for a good variety)
Different sauces: caramel sauce, hot fudge sauce
Add-ins: ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, candy canes, andes mints, butterscotch disks, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, you get the idea.....
Top it off with: mini-marshmallows, whipped cream
And on the side: biscotti (we love our orange pecan biscotti), grasshopper cookies, pirouette cookies, or whatever else suits your fancy!
Make the appropriate amount of hot chocolate for your guests depending on your group size. You can warm these up on the stove top or if you are serving a big group, warming up in a crock pot is a great way to serve!
Next in line, have your mix-ins displayed and ready to serve.
Coming up next - the whipped cream and mini-marshmallows.
End your hot chocolate bar with a few varieties of cookies.
EASY CARAMEL WHITE HOT CHOCOLATE RECIPE
Author: Tammy Blankenship
Recipe type: drink
Yield: 4 cups
INGREDIENTS
4 cups whole milk (or half and half)
1 cup chopped white chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla
DIRECTIONS
Warm milk over medium-low heat, stirring frequently.
Once milk starts comes to a scald, add white chocolate and vanilla, turn off heat, and whisk until smooth.
Serve with whipped cream, and our favorite caramel sauce.
For more great recipes and ideas, you can find Food Apparel here.
