This time of year I will happily drink pretty much any kind of hot chocolate, any time and so will my kids. It is the definition of cozy. Being cozy is practically a religion in my household. That said, it recently occurred to me that I have never made a special Winter Solstice cocoa and that simply won’t do! So, to correct this oversight, I present to you my Yule hot cocoa. To make it extra Yule-y I added oranges to coax back the sun, cinnamon and cloves for luck, peace and protection (as well as holiday spice), and a little bit of spruce for the ultimate winter evergreen magic. Evergreens are remarkably citrus-y in flavor too. It’s all topped off with a sun shaped marshmallow dusted with turmeric and gold leaf. You can use any orange peel that you have on hand, I just like using clementines because the peel comes off them so easily. And my kids eat them like it’s their job in the winter so i am forever finding gross little piles of peel around the house. If forging evergreen makes you nervous, just leave it out, it will still be delicious. If you do add the evergreen, make sure you are confident in your ID, never use the toxic yew tree, and make sure that you know no chemicals were sprayed on the tree. (Do not use a clipping from a holiday tree for this reason, they are nearly all sprayed.) I have a little cheat code to make the marshmallows without making them from scratch, so this is a pretty fast an easy recipe for a busy season.
Merry Yule!
Yule Hot Cocoa
Ingredients:
- 2 cups milk (or plant milk, the ones that say “barista style” generally do better with heat)
- 1 clementine (or mandarin orange)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- a snipping of edible evergreen, unsprayed (I used spruce)
- pinch of whole cloves
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- pinch salt
- 1/3 cup hot water
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
This makes 2 servings and scales up easily.
First infuse the milk. Place the milk, a piece of clementine peel, the cinnamon stick, cloves and evergreen into a saucepan. Bring almost to a boil but not quite over medium heat. (It’s ok if it gets away from you, boiling just means it forms a skin which you can strain out on the next step.) Hold it for five- ten minutes or so hot but not boiling, and then turn the heat off, cover and let sit on the stove for another 15 minutes or so.
Strain out the solids and either use the milk for the next steps, or put it in the fridge to make the cocoa another time.
Add the cocoa, sugar, salt and water to a small saucepan and cook, stirring over medium high heat for around two minutes. It will bubble furiously and thicken considerably. Stir constantly so it doesn’t burn.
Pour in the milk and stir. Allow it to warm up to proper hot cocoa temperature, but don’t let it come to a boil. (A fine line…) Stir in the vanilla off the heat and pour into mugs. Top with a sun marshmallow or an orange slice.
Sun Marshmallows
I knew I wanted to make sun marshmallows for my yule cocoa, what better way to welcome back the sun? But, I also knew I didn’t feel like making homemade marshmallows. Instead, I got the super huge store-bought marshmallows, rolled them flat with a rolling pin, then used my sun cookie cutter to shape them. They came out looking awesome and aren’t very much work! You do really need the comically large ones to get a good thickness. I originally rubbed turmeric on them for the color, but I like the spicy note it adds to the drink too. The gold leaf is completely unnecessary, but fun if you are feeling fancy.
Ingredients:
- jumbo marshmallows (the super huge ones)
- powdered sugar
- turmeric
- edible gold leaf (optional if you are feeling fancy)
- rolling pin
- parchment paper
- sun cutters- I used the smallest one from this set
- circle cutters- I used the smallest one from this set
Method:
Put a piece of parchment on your work surface to prevent staining. Sprinkle a little powdered sugar and turmeric on the paper.
Place a marshmallow on the paper and run some of the sugar/ turmeric onto you rolling pin. Roll the marshmallow flatish. You’ll have to switch directions a few times and flip it over once or twice, but you should be able to get it to around a 1/2″ thick and reasonably even.
Cut out a sun shape with the cutter. Dip the cutter in powdered sugar if it sticks. Dip the circle cutter in turmeric and press it lightly in the center of the sun. You don’t want to cut all the way through, just leave an impression. (It isn’t the end of the world if you go all the way through, they’ll just come apart.)
Rub a little more turmeric on. If you are using gold leaf, rub a little water on and stick the gold to it.
Use right away or store in an airtight container.
