A cup of hot flavored chocolate on a cold winter day helps to warm up and invigorate, while ordinary hard chocolate cannot give such an effect. Europeans call drinks made from cocoa powder hot chocolate, while Slavs make it from slab chocolate with spices and milk. What kind of tasty tile is better to choose for preparing a hot drink?
The benefits of hot chocolate
Hot chocolate contains various calcium and potassium salts, which are essential for healthy bones and skin, as well as magnesium and iron, which energize the body. In addition, hot chocolate is rich in vital vitamins A, B1, D, C and E, antioxidants and flavonoids that increase blood nitric oxide levels and improve blood vessel function.
Hot chocolate contains twice as many antioxidants as red wine and three times more than green tea.
Thanks to the daily use of a cup of hot chocolate, people improve their mood and memory, increase vitality, increase efficiency, stimulate mental activity and the production of endorphins (the hormone of joy). In addition, hot chocolate is a preventive measure that reduces the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and malignant neoplasms. In addition, it does not provoke excess weight, since it contains less sugar than hard chocolate.
Choosing chocolate for a hot drink
To make hot chocolate, you can use cocoa powder, regular slab chocolate, or special culinary chocolate. A classic drink with a pleasant bitterness is made from 60-70% good quality dark chocolate. At the same time, the chocolate itself should not contain dyes, preservatives and GMOs that spoil the taste of hot chocolate.
Ideal for preparing a drink chocolate, which contains a large amount of cocoa butter, which makes its taste more refined and rich.
Traditionally, dark and dairy varieties are best used for making hot chocolate, but white chocolate is also suitable for this purpose. Cocoa powder is suitable if it does not contain a large amount of emulsifiers and stabilizers and has been stored under the correct conditions without an expiration date. As special additives to hot chocolate, you can use starch or egg yolk, as well as rum, liqueur or cognac, which will give the drink a noble taste. Hot chocolate spices are great: cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, chili, and cardamom. To give the drink a special note, you can add a little salt to it, but you need to be very careful with sugar, since chocolate itself is very sweet. You can supplement the finished chocolate drink with dried fruits, cream or a scoop of ice cream.
