Put the Hot in Hot Chocolate

Those packets of hot cocoa you fix your kids may be okay for, well, kids -- and we'll admit the mini marshmallows are exceptionally cute. But you deserve better. We've got a recipe for hot chocolate that is pure indulgence... because it's almost pure chocolate, just as in the best cafes in Paris.

This flexible recipe takes about as much time to make as it does for the kettle to boil for hot cocoa from a package. The taste, however, is incomparable. You won't look back.

Parisian Hot Chocolate

You'll Need:
1 1/2 ounces of the best quality dark chocolate (62 percent cacao or above), grated
1 cup of milk

You'll Do:
Heat the milk in a small saucepan until bubbles just begin to form at the edge of the pan.
Add the chocolate shavings and whisk until all the chocolate has melted.
Pour into a mug, crawl under a snug blanket and enjoy.

This recipe yields one cup but can be multiplied easily to serve as many as you wish. Now, doctor it up anyway you like or compare it to another recipe, such as our Skating-on-Thin-Ice hot chocolate.

And do the right thing and let your kids have some. Teach them what hot chocolate is really all about.