chocolate to lower-fat cocoa, the beverage was hot chocolate, even if they called their public

establishments cocoa houses.

Cocoa Facts

Hot chocolate and hot cocoa

There is a tremendous variation of recipes for such simple preparations as hot chocolate and

hot cocoa. Neither cookbook authors, nor manufacturers agree on a single and simple best recipe.

Obviously, people have different ideas about what best is.

I looked through a number of old and new cookbooks, and the variety of methods and

proportions are endless. The older the cookbook, the more complicated the method for preparation.

Even the three major brands of American cocoa manufacturers—Hershey's, Nestlé's and

Ghirardelli—suggest different methods on their cocoa boxes you find on market shelves though

what is in their boxes are virtually identical.

The proper amount of cocoa to make an 8-ounce (320-ml) cup serving varies from 2 to 4

teaspoons. Most sources recommend 3 teaspoons. This gives a nice chocolatey beverage without an

overpowering flavor and this is my favorite version (the recipe below uses 4 teaspoons cocoa but for

a larger size cup).

The recommended amount of sugar varies even more, from 1½ to 6 teaspoons per standard

cup. Obviously, this is much more a matter of taste than the variance in the amount of cocoa. One

and one-half teaspoons of sugar produces a semisweet drink, 3 to 4 teaspoons produce a sweet

cocoa, and 5 to 6 teaspoons produce a cloyingly sweet drink.

You can use any kind of milk to mix with the cocoa—no-fat, low-fat or whole. Some

recipes suggest using boiling water, about a quarter of the total liquid, to mix the cocoa powder with

before adding milk.

You can add other flavors to hot cocoa, too. A little vanilla, about ¼ to ½ teaspoon for 4

servings, adds a pleasing taste. A dash of salt sharpens the chocolate flavor. Older cookbooks

suggest cinnamon, clove or nutmeg instead of vanilla, and some even recommend adding a little

butter for extra richness.

Cookbooks don't agree on whether or not to cook the cocoa. Some experts suggest cooking

it in water or milk first, so the starch in the cocoa loses its raw character. They claim that cooked hot

cocoa has a richer flavor, and the cocoa powder is less apt to settle to the bottom of the cup.

Hershey’s suggests boiling the cocoa in a little water for two minutes before adding the milk

and heating the mixture. Older recipes also suggest cooking the cocoa first. The other two major

cocoa manufacturers recommend no cooking, just adding hot milk.

Cooking makes sense using the logic that cooking the starch can only improve flavor. But

my own experiments proved otherwise. Not only cocoa prepared by the uncooked method is easier

(one less step to do), but it produces a virtually identical drink. I could detect no difference in taste.

Even more surprising, the settling of the cocoa powder to the bottom of the cup was slower in the

uncooked cocoa than in the cooked. I cannot explain the reason, but you can take my word for it.

Possibly in the cooked version the starch or cocoa particles swelled with added water, became

heavier and sank to the bottom faster.

Instant cocoa is a very popular product simply because of its convenience, just like instant

coffee. The manufacturer adds an emulsifier, called lecithin, to help separate the tiny cocoa particles

so that they will disperse easily and instantly in liquid. The sugar content of these ready-mixes is

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