Hot Chocolate (on a Stick!)

Hey everyone!  Are you still on a Christmas sugar high? I had to send a huge bag of chocolates/goodies to work with Tom just to get it out of the house. But there is still too much of it around. And this doesn't include the two pies and 15 or so cupcakes in the fridge.

But I'm not completely innocent - I made chocolate treats to give out to our friends and family too. This is hot chocolate - on a stick! You just need to stir one into a cup of hot water or milk until it melts and you're done. You can even eat them as they are if you're in need of a chocolate fix!

It's a pretty simple recipe that just requires some patience.

You'll need:

Chocolate for melting - discs or bars

Unsweetened cocoa

Icing (confectioner's) sugar

Molds - icecube trays, popsicle trays, - get inventive!

Coffee stirsticks or popsicle sticks

You'll also need a place to put the sticks while the dip is hardening. We cut slits into some cardboard and set them up on top of plastic containers.

You'll start by setting up a double boiler on the stove. We used a pot filled with an inch or two of water, a glass bowl to hold the chocolate, and a Staybowlizer between to keep the bowl in place. The Staybowlizer is the best invention ever. No need for extra pots that are rarely used.

You can use whatever chocolate you like - we bought some chocolate melts from the local bulk store in Belgian milk chocolate. We also bought candy melts in different colours, and some crushed candy canes for decorating.

Break the chocolate up and melt it slowly in the bowl. With the double boiler you don't really have to worry about it burning or melting too quickly. I was so nervous the first time because I read all about getting it too hot, or not letting any liquid touch it, but as I went along (4 batches? 5 batches? There were some errors) I got more relaxed.

Once the chocolate is melted start adding your powdered cocoa and icing sugar, a bit at a time, until it is blended well. My measurements weren't exact, maybe 3 tablespoons of each for every 4 (pre-melted) cups of chocolate. You don't want to add too much as this will make the mixture too stiff and it won't pour into the mold.

Spoon the mixture into your mold, filling them about 3/4 of the way. Once full, tap the mold against the counter a couple of times to remove any air bubbles. Slowly insert your sticks into each section making sure they don't go all the way to the bottom. We found these cool ice cube trays that were long and skinny - perfect for a mug. (These ones are also fun if you want to do cubes instead.)

Put your mold in the fridge and let it cool for 2 or 3 hours. The chocolate blocks should pop out fairly easily when you pull on the sticks. We were lucky in that the bottom of our ice cube tray popped off and we could push the chocolate out from the bottom.

You can leave the sticks the way they are and they're ready to use, or you can decorate them to make them a little more fun. 

To decorate:

Heat some candy melts in the double boiler the same way you did the chocolate. We used white, green, and dark brown melts - each in a separate dish. I think the white ones turned out the nicest. Use a pastry brush to quickly brush the melted candy onto each stick and then sprinkle the crushed candy cane all over it. You probably think it would be easier to dip them, but the chocolate melts too quickly and you'll end up with a funky looking finished product. 

I used foil takeout containers from the dollar store to package them up. Inside I layered green and red tulle, and then wax paper to protect the chocolate.

I glued solid green wrapping paper to the lid of the container to fancy it up, and then wrapped it with raffia and a burlap ribbon bow.

I also included instructions inside so that people would know what to do with the sticks.

How about that? Once I got the hang of it there wasn't much to it and the result was so, so pretty. I hope everyone who received a box loved them as much as I loved making them.

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I'm linking up here this week!