Hot Chocolate on a Stick

It's snowing here today...actually, let me correct myself. Last night it snowed, today everything has turned into ice. All classes before 11 a.m. were canceled this morning, but I had one at 11 that I couldn't miss. Unfortunately grace is not something I possess in any significant quantity, so I really shouldn't go outside in conditions like this. I didn't factor in the ice when I opened my front door, so proceeded to fall down all of the front steps and tumble over the side of the steps into the bushes. Just one of those days I guess!

But the cold made me think of these delicious hot chocolate sticks I made around Christmas. I never posted them because time slipped away and they are pictured next to a "ho ho ho" mug. With this weather I've decided these are a necessary (and easy) thing to have around. Once they're finished you just heat up a glass of milk and stir them right in. Voila! Rich, velvety hot chocolate in seconds. My brother preferred to eat them plain (he didn't understand why I had taken perfectly good fudge and deemed it "Hot Chocolate on a Stick"). Truthfully it is fudge on a stick. I'll take it either way.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick
Recipe from What's Megan Making (originally from King Arthur Flour)

½ cup heavy cream

14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (1 1/4 cups)
3 cups (18 oz) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (chopped chocolate bars or chips)
3/4 cup (4 oz) unsweetened baking chocolate
wooden sticks

Line an 8" x 8" pan with parchment paper. Heat the cream and condensed milk over low heat until steaming. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate; allow it to gently melt. After about 10 minutes, return the chocolate mixture to low heat to completely melt the chocolate. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is thick and shiny. At this point you could ddd a few drops of flavoring oil (such as hazelnut, coffee, or vanilla). Pour the chocolate mixture into the pan; shake the pan gently to level. Sprinkle with cocoa, if desired. Set aside overnight to slowly harden.

Run a knife around the edge of the pan and turn out onto a clean cutting surface. Slice into 1 ¼" cubes (or size desired for serving). Heat a knife in hot water and wipe dry before each cut, for smoothest cuts. Stick a wooden stick into the center of each block. Roll in cocoa or crushed peppermint candy, if desired. Wrap in waxed paper, parchment, or plastic wrap to store.  (I'm storing mine in a tupperware in the freezer, with layers separated by waxed paper)  These will keep at room temperature 3-4 days, in the fridge about 10 days, in the freezer up to 30 days.

Yield: about 3 dozen blocks.