21! With "Hot" Chocolate

Happy Thanksgiving, American readers! and if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, that's okay. I hope you are having an especially wonderful Thursday. Yesterday, I turned 21. The day was pretty mellow overall. I made a loaf of bread, read a little, played bananagrams, talked to friends....became captivated by my brother's game of Skyrim. My mother made me one of these.

It was a lovely, atypical 21st. I kind of felt obligated to drink something though. There was a pretty bottle of Riesling in the basement that I opened up. I made a face as I took a sip. Dry. Meh. I found it palatable after liberally diluting it with Sprite. I'm a lightweight, haha. 

But ermahgerd, I got a macro lens!!!

But I had to try again! Amaretto and cream is pretty tasty...I browsed around for something a little more exciting and found a recipe for "hot" chocolate. Milk combined with cocoa, spices, and a shot of whiskey? That sounded...pretty delicious, actually. And it was. Mostly because I could hardly taste the whiskey and it was more like spicy chocolate milk. So there you have it. Rebecca doesn't really like booze. Now that that's out of the way, I can get back to baking! 

"Hot" Chocolate
by Heo Yeah Yum

1 tbsp cocoa powder (the kind you bake with, not the Swiss Mix kind)
2 tsp malted milk powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 red Thai chili
1 clove
⅛ tsp grated nutmeg
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup cold milk
1 oz whiskey (or 1½ if you want it boozier, or omit for the kids)
red pepper flakes (for looks!)
 
Directions
In a mortar, grind red chili with clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, releasing the flavors with a pestle.
In the mortar or a cocktail shaker, add the chili and spices with milk, whiskey, sugar, malt powder, and cocoa powder. Shake or stir well.
Pour into a serving glass and sprinkle some pepper flakes over the top.