Wannabe French Hot Chocolate

Oh. my. gosh. This was awesome! For days now, Emily and I have been talking about making Wannabe French hot chocolate, a recipe from Max Brenner's cookbook Chocolate: A Love Story that we got for review a few weeks ago.
Our expectations have been building for days, as we read the recipe, bought the ingredients that we didn't have, and actually got around to making this. Most of the ingredients are those that you would commonly have in your kitchen/pantry: milk, corn starch, sugar, egg (yolks), chocolate (your choice, chopped), cocoa powder, and heavy cream.


We started making our hot chocolate and were to the second step of the recipe when I realized that I had not read the directions very well and had to start over. No problem, except I don't have any milk left now! :) Once I read the directions more carefully, it was easy. Emily had fun helping me mix ingredients in, and lick the adjustable measuring cup after we put the sugar in!

I think that it took us less than 10 minutes from start to finish - granted, we enlisted Zack to chop our chocolate and whip our cream! This was a WHOLE family job!

The Wannabe French hot chocolate was amazing!

Seriously, it has a custard base that you melt the chocolate into, and then a "generous dollop" of whipped cream on top, with cocoa powder (we used finely grated chocolate) sprinkled on top! The hot chocolate was incredibly rich, but not with an over-powering chocolate flavor. The
cream on top was a great compliment to the chocolate underneath, it kept the flavor rich while mellowing out the sweetness.

Zack doesn't generally like hot chocolate, but loved this! So we had fun, and our efforts paid off! Did I mention that I love weekends!

Chocolate: A Love Story - Cook Book Review

Chocolate is something that most of us enjoy! I certainly do. In Chocolate: A Love Story, Max Brenner takes chocolate beyond anything I have ever imagined! There are recipies that feature choclate everywhere from morning variations (Bohemian French toast chocolate sandwiches), Choclate Therapy (Intimate scones), Choclate Cream Cake Options, Pies, Concentrated Chocolate, and more...much, much more!

Chocolate: A Love Story is a vibrant new cookbook that includes 65 original recipes narrated in the quirky, captivating voice of Max Brenner, the restaurant's visionary founder and "bald man." Bold original illustrations inspired by Art Deco poster graphics, full-color photographs, easy-to-follow, delicious recipes, and a serving of Max's unique vision for spreading "chocolate culture" around the world make this book a must for every chocolate lover.

We have not yet actually tried any of the recipies yet, but are planning to make Wannabe French Hot Chocolate in the next few nights and will be sure to take a picture and let you all know how it comes out!
You can read more about Max Brenner here and you can buy the book on Amazon here.

Thank you to the Hachette Book Group for sending me this book to review. The opionions expressed are mine.