Iliki Hot Chocolate

I was nestled on the couch one rainy Saturday mid morning, in my very heavy, very warm, very soft orange sweater. In my hand was some hot chocolate I had just made. Not Milo. Not Drinking Chocolate. But real hot chocolate. I had opened the blinds since I wanted to watch the clouds roll in and catch the first drops fall to the earth. It then started raining. I shut the window and looked at each drop race it’s way down the glass. Do you guys sometimes just pause and watch it rain? I do! As the rain’s intensity eased, I returned to my couch grabbed my hot chocolate and slowly seeped it as I caught up on Biko’s blogs. I cried my eyes out and felt my soul shatter when I read There Were Birds But They Didn’t Sing. I laughed and reflected on the silly stereotypes we impose on our brothers and sisters as curated by our colonialists when I read Yes, You Are Tribal. And chuckled when I read Letter to My 20 Year Old Self, and also drew some valuable life lessons. What a whirlwind of emotion! That was a perfect Saturday mid morning for me, courtesy of my awesome read, my warm orange sweater, and of course, my hot chocolate fit for the gods themselves!

So let me show you how you are gonna prepare it so that you too can bask in it’s glorious flavors! <3

PREP TIME: 5MIN    COOK TIME: 12MIN        SERVES:1

Hot Chocolate Ingredients

1 cup of whole milk

1/2 cup of heavy cream

50 g of milk chocolate, grated

1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

6 cardamom pods

Method

First thing, on an ungreased pan, toast your cardamom pods on medium heat until they are just fragrant. This will release their oils and intensify their flavor which would make the hot chocolate even more intense. This should take about 2-4 minutes. Keep your eye on them so that they do not burn as that will make everything bitter. I bought my iliki form Tuskys at 60 bob a pack and they have lasted a lifetime! You can use the already ground cardamom in the event you cannot find the pods themselves. Slightly slit them and lets proceed!

Heat the milk, your cream, split cardamom seeds, and the cinnamon in a sufuria on low heat and bring to boil to just below the simmering point. The cream is what adds richness and density to this drink. I bought mine from CarreFour but you can find it in any other well stocked supermarket.

Make sure you simmer the milk on low heat so that the flavors really infuse. If you rush the process, the spices will fail to infuse and you will end up with just milk.

Remove it from the heat and add your chocolate. Yes, real hot chocolate is made with actual chocolate! I used only 50 g of milk chocolate because I love my hot chocolate moderately rich. However, if you really want it rich and thick and if you prefer it very sweet, feel free to add more chocolate as per your preference. You can even mix both milk and dark chocolate to hit a nice balance. Make sure you use a nice chocolate quality so that they melt well in your milk. You know those cheap chocolates that do not melt well in your mouth and leave a weird oily residue? Do not use those ones for your hot chocolate as you will be guaranteeing backfiring.

Instead of adding roughly chopped chocolate, i decided to grate my chocolate because it would melt in faster. Not that there is anything wrong with adding chocolate chunks, its just that I do not have the patience of stirring for 6 decades when I could do it in 3 minutes by grating the chocolate. You feel me?

When the chocolate has melted and is fully incorporated, add the vanilla extract and whisk once more. Give it a taste and adjust your flavors as needed. If you feel it is not as sweet as you like, you can add some sugar too at this point. Notice I never added sugar? That was just my personal preference as I felt my drink was sufficiently sweetened by the chocolate. Reheat on low heat once more for about two minutes so that everything cohesively melds and then serve immediately.

If you fancy, garnish with some whipped cream then serve. I garnished with some speckled of heavy cream and some chocolate shavings <3. Nothing is going to make your November better than gulping down 657 mugs of this hot chocolate in a time-span of 30 minutes because life is too short to retrain ourselves from all the yumminess a glass of this iliki hot chocolate.

Guys! GUYS!!!!!!11 The flavors were beyond perfect!!!! The creaminess of the milk that took on the richness of the chocolate so beautifully. You can taste the warmth of the cinnamon and the warmth of my all time favorite spice, iliki, was the crown jewel of my hot chocolate. I do not know about you, but right now, right this minute, I would rather be in my orange sweater, with my legs up the couch sipping my hot chocolate.

I am definitely making this my weekend treat! I know you do too! <3

Get your downloadable recipe here :))

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