Nothing warms the soul quite like a cup of hot cocoa. But cocoa connoisseurs have debated on the key ingredient that makes the best cup of steamy goodness.
It’s high time to tackle the age-old question. Is hot cocoa, aka hot chocolate, served best with water or milk?
Food Network chef Ina Garten includes milk in her recipe for hot cocoa. And Southern belle Paula Deen actually includes heavy cream and half and half in her recipe for hot cocoa. Neither celebrity chef uses water to serve up their warm cup of wintery goodness.
Of course, the recipes for high end hot chocolate served up by Ina Garten and Paula Dean are reserved for special occasions when time for embellishing on drink details is not an issue.
What if you want to enjoy some quick hot chocolate on the go? Can you scrimp on the milk and just add water?
Even a quick fix recipe for El Dorado Hot Chocolate featured by the Food Network Kitchens doesn’t use water for their key ingredient in hot cocoa.
According to the cocoa connoisseurs of the Food Network, hot chocolate is best made with milk. But somewhere along the line, water was swapped for milk and the history of hot cocoa has changed ever since.
An unspoken rule of hot chocolate service is that the beverage be prepared with milk. However, there are certain unnamed establishments that use water as a substitute for milk in their hot cocoa. Formal names of said establishments are omitted to protect the guilty.
Some might argue that it’s not the base ingredient but the quality of the cocoa that makes each sip of hot chocolate so savory and sweet. But again, are these individuals the celebrity chefs that America knows and loves?
So how did you make your favorite cup of warm wintery goodness as a child? Did you use water or milk in your family recipe for hot cocoa?
Has that changed? And if so, why?
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