Homemade Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows
This luxurious homemade hot chocolate goes beyond the instant packet varieties, offering a rich, velvety experience that's worth the extra effort. By using real chocolate and creating your own marshmallows from scratch, you'll elevate a simple winter comfort drink into something truly special that will impress family and friends alike.
Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
15 min
Serves
4 servings
Difficulty
medium
Ingredients
Techniques: candy making, chocolate tempering, gelatin blooming, sugar syrup cooking
Equipment Needed
- Stand mixer with whisk attachment
- Candy thermometer
- Medium saucepan
- 9x13 inch baking pan
- Parchment paper
- Sifter or fine-mesh strainer
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Sharp knife
- Kitchen torch (optional)
This recipe elevates the classic hot chocolate experience by creating both a rich, velvety chocolate base and fluffy homemade marshmallows from scratch. While it requires more effort than instant mixes, the techniques you'll learn—from properly tempering chocolate to working with gelatin and sugar syrups—will enhance your culinary skills. The process is broken into two main components: making the marshmallows (which need time to set) and preparing the hot chocolate base.
For a simpler version, you can make just the hot chocolate and use store-bought marshmallows. If making the full recipe, start the marshmallows several hours before or the day before you plan to serve the hot chocolate. The marshmallow-making process teaches valuable candy-making skills that can be applied to many other desserts.