Holiday Hot Chocolate

This year we are excited about the hot chocolate spoon idea. It is a simple way to have fun in the kitchen and make some special treats for friends and family. A hot chocolate spoon is made with melted chocolate and an assortment of other treats, that are molded into different shapes with a spoon or stir stick sticking out. They are great for melting into hot milk or coffee for a special holiday treat.

The Basic Recipe
There are a few different variations of this idea. What worked best for us was mixing about two heaping tablespoons of equal parts confectioner sugar and cocoa powder in with every cup of melted chocolate. When melting the chocolate put it in the microwave for 30 seconds stir then heat in 15 second increments stirring after each time until the chocolate is fully melted.

1 cup of melted chocolate
1 heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder
1 heaping tablespoon of confectioner's sugar

This makes the chocolate more cakey and easier to work with. We did two batches. One using milk chocolate chips and one using semi-sweet chocolate chips for the chocoholics out there. For purposes of getting a lot done at one time, don’t melt the chocolate until last. It’s important to have your molds prepared, flavors picked, and decorations ready.

Flavor Ideas
The flavors we chose were plain chocolate, salted caramel, peppermint, and white chocolate. Here is a breakdown on how we did each flavor.

Plain Chocolate: Simply add the chocolate to the mold and decorate. We used gold sugar flakes on top.
Salted Caramel: Mold soft caramel to the bottom of the mold. Pour in chocolate. Salt the top, and add the spoon.
Peppermint: Take peppermint crunch and layer it at the bottom. Add your chocolate and sprinkle crushed peppermint candy on the top. Put the spoon in and wait for the joy.
White Chocolate: Melt white chocolate and layer the bottom of the mold. Allow to harden then add a layer of the dark or milk chocolate.

Tips and Tricks
Make sure to use a silicone mold and use every other row so that when you’re decorating you can decorate different flavors without cross decorating. If you want to enhance the flavors you can add flavor concentrates, but they must be mixed in with the chocolate otherwise it will pose issues with the layering, and whatever you sprinkle on top. When melting chocolate, you can always re-melt it but once it is burnt it’s toasted. Be careful to go slow. If it hardens while you work you can put it in for another 15 seconds to loosen it up. When you add it to the molds give them a good knocking to help the chocolate level out and fill in the mold. We hope you enjoy this treat and it brings some fun to your holiday season!