Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
I’m definitely not the first food blogger to post a recipe for homemade hot cocoa mix. And I definitely won’t be the last. That’s because it makes such an easy and fun homemade gift, and I just couldn’t resist.
I used Ghirardelli chocolate and cocoa in mix. Of course, Hubby loved having an excuse to eat more homemade marshmallows and threw quite a few in his cup of hot cocoa!
One Year Ago: Green Bean Casserole
Two Years Ago: Snickerdoodles and Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
Three Years Ago: Chocolate and Peanut Butter Biscotti
Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
Yield: 76-2 Tbsp servings
Ingredients:
2 vanilla beans
4 cups granulated sugar
24 oz high-quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
9 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups Dutch process cocoa
Directions:
Split and scrape vanilla beans and place in a large bowl or jar with the sugar. Work seeds into the sugar with your fingers. Bury the pods under the sugar. Cover tightly and let stand overnight (or up to months–vanilla sugar keeps forever) at room temperature.
In a food processor fitted with metal blade, process semisweet chocolate and dark chocolate until finely ground, using 4-second pulses. Process in batches, if necessary.
Remove pod from sugar. Add ground chocolate and cocoa powder to sugar and whisk to blend, making sure to combine well. Store mix airtight at room temperature for up to six months.
Assemble your gifts:
Scoop 1 1/2 cups of cocoa mix into a medium sized bag. Attach a tag with the following note: Heat 8 oz milk on med-high heat until scalded. Add 2 Tbsp cocoa mix and whisk until smooth. Top with a marshmallow. Makes 12 servings.
Recipe as seen on Confections of a Foodie Bride, originally from Gourmet
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I too didn’t have a pan big enough for a water bath. I just cooked it for 1 hour and 30 minutes and then let it cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. I didn’t even cool it in the oven. I haven’t tasted it yet, so I don’t know if it turned out ok…but it looks just like my other that I made.
Hey if it tastes good who cares what it looks like?!
Regardless of how it looks, it’s the taste that matters! My cheesecakes look similar when I don’t do a water bath. Another idea with cheesecake is to make cheesecake truffles with leftovers (that is, if you even have any!) 🙂
If you get an answer to your cake running over problem would you mind sharing it? I had the same problem, despite the fact my pan met Dorie’s requirements. I’m also curious where I went wrong.
I’ve had similar problems, especially with the cracking, which I believe is from cooking too long. Once I started taking cheese cakes out based on time and not appearance the problem went away. I think a lot of cooking still takes place from the internal heat…just a theory…BTW, great marble effect on your cake!
Aawwww poor little cheesecake. To be honest I am not sure why your cheesecake fell but I know when I make cheesecake mine always bakes more evenly when I use a water bath also if the internal temperature reaches 160F (don’t quote me) it starts to make the cheesecake crack. Maybe next time don’t bake it as long? Either way taste is the most important IMO. 🙂
Clara @ iheartfood4thought