These are the only two hot chocolate recipes you need in Boston this winter
Straight from Flour Bakery + Café and Crèma Cambridge.
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‘Tis the season for hot cocoa, and there’s loads of places to go in town to grab a cup. But sometimes, it’s inconvenient to go all the way to a café to get it.
So we asked the folks at Boston’s top hot chocolate destinations to give their customers a Christmas present and “spill’’ the recipe for their hot chocolate creations. Two local favorites, Flour Bakery + Café and Crèma Cambridge, were kind enough to share.
Flour Bakery + Café’s Fiery Hot Chocolate has been warming us up for several winters. (Who knew chocolate and chili would be such a delicious combo?) Flour has four locations across Boston and Cambridge, but now you can make their sweet, spicy hot cocoa without leaving the comfort of your home.
This super-rich hot cocoa is a multi-step process–you have to make their Fiery Powder and Chocolate Ganache first in order to recreate their cocoa–but it’s worth it. Trust us.
Fiery Powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon vanilla sugar 3/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Mix all ingredients together.
Chocolate Ganache Makes about 1 cup
3/4 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips 1/2 cup of heavy cream
Place the chocolate in a small, heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the cream over high heat until scalded; that is, until small bubbles form along the sides of the pan. Pour hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds. Slowly whisk the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
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Fiery Hot Chocolate
1 cup chocolate ganache 1 ¾ cups whole milk Big pinch of kosher salt 1 recipe Fiery Powder
In a medium saucepan, combine the ganache, milk, salt, and fiery powder and bring to just under a boil over high heat, whisking until blended. Pour into mugs and serve immediately.
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Crèma Cambridge likes to keep their hot chocolate recipe simple to “showcase the chocolate,’’ according to owner Marley Brush. This Harvard Square café serves up straight-to-the-point cocoa to its customers with a recipe so surprisingly easy that there’s no reason you shouldn’t try recreating it.
Because there’s only a few ingredients in this cocoa, Brush recommends using a very high-quality chocolate to ensure the best results. (At Crema Cambridge, they stick to Belgian dark chocolate.)
Crèma Hot Chocolate Yield: 4 servings
4 ½ cups whole milk 3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate (chips or chopped) 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate (chips or chopped)
In a saucepan over medium heat, heat milk to a light simmer. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Whisk until all chocolate is melted and incorporated. Reheat, if necessary, until steaming.
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If DIY hot cocoa isn’t for you, or if you want the café experience, head over to Crema Café and any Flour location to see where these recipes were born.
Crema is located at 27 Brattle St. in Harvard Square. Flour has locations in the South End at 1595 Washington St.; the Back Bay 131 Clarendon St.; Cambridge at 190 Massachusetts Ave.; and Fort Point at 12 Farnsworth St..
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