Hot Cocoa Mix

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Today Firecracker and I are attending our church’s fall kickoff of our monthly Ladies’ Breakfast.  The pastor’s wife is hosting at her house, so we thought we’d take her (and her daughter – Firecracker’s friend) a little hostess gift when we go.

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Earlier this week, we went to to the thrift store and picked up a little basket, lined it with an embroidered linen hand towel (from my stash).  We also found two little silver spoons, and paired them with two vintage Japanese tea cups and saucers.  The tea cups had a glossy opalescence that Firecracker really liked  (“the inside of the cup looks like a soap bubble!”).  To round out the Mom and Daughter Afternoon Cocoa basket, we made a batch of Not-Too-Sweet Hot Cocoa Mix.

If you’d like to make some cocoa mix of your own (which I prefer to store-bought, because it isn’t overwhelmingly sugary), prepare to get messy!  You’ll need –

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Sift together 2 cups powdered sugar and 1 cup dutch-process cocoa and 2 tsp cornstarch (no lumps!).

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Then stir in 1 tsp salt and 2 1/2 cups powdered milk,

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and finally, add a large pinch Ancho Chili Powder.  (The original recipe is from Alton Brown’s website (love Good Eats!), although, the first time I made it, the girls didn’t like the cayenne, so now I use the Ancho chili powder, which is very mild, but provides a hint of smoky pepper flavor.)

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Stir all ingredients together, and store in a large jar, sealed tight.  To make up a cup, fill your cup 1/3-1/2 full with the mix.  Add hot water, milk or coffee to fill.  Enjoy!

Hope your weekend is filled with peace and good fellowship.

3 thoughts on “Hot Cocoa Mix”

  1. I love the tea cups! A woman at our church makes homemade hot cocoa mix for us. I really like it (she even adds extra chocolate for our family). It is not as sweet.

    Would you possibly be interested in selling a doll quilt? I would love to buy one for my daughter for Christmas.

    Kari

  2. I love this idea. It could be adapted for many other food items, also. Taking the time to really think and prepare ahead of time of others and what they like is an amazing gift. Thank you for the reminder to slow down a bit and think of my friends in a different way.

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