cheat sheets.

Ingredients:

2-1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup bottled still water
1/4 cup (generous) superfine granulated sugar
1 100-gm bar (3-1/2 ounces) dark bittersweet chocolate, Scharffen Berger,
Valrhona, or Lindt (see note, below), finely sliced with a serrated bread knife
(or a Microplane, if you have one)
1/4 cup (1 ounce or 28 gm) cocoa powder, loosely packed, preferably Valrhona

Instructions:

In a 2-quart saucepan, stir together the milk, water, and sugar. Bring to a boil
over medium heat. Add the chopped chocolate and the cocoa and bring to a boil
again, whisking until the chocolate and cocoa are dissolved and the mixture has
thickened. Reduce the heat to very low.

Blend for 5 minutes with an immersion mixer or whirl the hot chocolate in a
standard blender for half a minute, until thick and foamy.

Yield: Four 6-ounce cups of hot chocolate.

Note: I use a dark chocolate containing close to 70 percent cocoa, though Lindt
bittersweet also works just fine. The Mayans and the Aztecs considered the froth
the best part. Today, five minutes with an immersion mixer or a blender
accomplishes what a half hour of beating did long ago.