Harriet's Christmas traditions - luxury hot chocolate

Image caption: Image shows Harriet holding her luxurious hot chocolate smiling.

By Harriet Smith

One of my favourite traditions at Christmas is going Christmas shopping and taking in the festive sounds and smells of the high street. I also usually enjoy having a hot chocolate at one of the cafes in my local town of Brackley, as it is a regular route I do with my guide dog Sparky. However, I’ve had to be content with online Christmas shopping this year and find sweet treats to make at home.

I wanted to share a lovely recipe for a hazelnut hot chocolate, which tastes just as good as anything you’d get in a café.

This luxurious hot chocolate is a wonderful drink to have as a treat as we approach Christmas, and will help to cheer you up during cold winter days. It is utterly nutterly! This is adapted from a recipe in the Telegraph newspaper Saturday section.

Serves 2 generously.

Ingredients.

100 grams chocolate, dark or milk depending on your taste, broken into pieces.
500ML milk
1 heaped tablespoon chocolate hazelnut spread (such as Nutella)
200ML extra thick cream
1 tablespoon finely chopped toasted hazelnuts.

Method.

I use the microwave to make this, but if you prefer to do it in a saucepan on the hob you can do either.

Place the broken chocolate into a microwave proof jug and heat on full power for 1 minute until melted.
Heat the milk in another microwave proof jug for 3 minutes on full power.
Add the Nutella to the melted chocolate.
Pour the hot milk into the jug containing the chocolate and Nutella and stir to combine.
Put the chocolate milk into the microwave on full power for 1 minute and then stir again.
Pour the hot chocolate into two cups, nearly to the top, leaving room for the cream.
Carefully spoon the extra thick cream on to the top of the hot chocolate.
Sprinkle with the toasted hazelnuts. Serve immediately and enjoy!