Italian Hot Chocolate Recipe (Cioccolata Calda)

For a thick and tasty chocolate comfort drink, try this Italian Hot Chocolate Recipe!

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Italian Hot Chocolate Recipe (aka Cioccolata Calda)

Try this recipe for a thick, rich, and creamy hot chocolate, almost like a drinkable pudding. The Italians love this style! Using high quality chocolate will give you the best results.

Course Drink

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 4 cups

Author Tammy Blankenship

Ingredients

• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup chocolate or chocolate chips approx 6 ounces, finely chopped or ground in food processor
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1-3 tablespoons sugar depending the percentage of your chocolate and personal preference
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional

Instructions

1. Warm milk over medium heat until scalding. Make sure to stir frequently to not burn on bottom of the pan.

2. While milk is warming, mix cornstarch, sugar, and ground chocolate.
3. Add chocolate mixture to hot milk.

4. Cook until slightly thickened (2 to 4 minutes).

5. Add vanilla (optional) and remove from hot pan immediately.

Have you ever had Italian Hot Chocolate? It’s somewhere of a mix between your traditional hot chocolate and a tasty chocolate pudding. We have just the right combo so you can get the thick (but not too thick) and rich chocolatey goodness.

The biggest trick that we’ve found is not putting in too much cornstarch. Although you want it thick, you don’t want it gloppy and you don’t want to taste any cornstarch residue.

If you are just looking for a rich and hearty European Style Hot Chocolate, not so much of the pudding variety, skip the cornstarch, and just go straight dark chocolate and milk/heavy cream (or half-and-half). I’m warning you though – it’s rich!

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Need more hot chocolate ideas?:

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White Hot Chocolate

How to Host a Hot Chocolate Bar