Hot chocolate technique for latte art?

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Italyhound
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#1: Post by Italyhound »

I have seen cafes that produce hot chocolate with poured designs.

I would love to make these for my young kids.

I would think it's a slurry of some sort filled with the remaining milk. I tried syrup and cocoa in a paste - no go - so I figured I would ask here for a known successful technique. Since we have an egg nog thread, I presume this is a legit thread topic. :)

Thanks

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UltramaticOrange
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#2: Post by UltramaticOrange »

I'll admit that I haven't done this with hot-cocoa, but I've done similar a few times years ago in the kitchen I worked at.

- Make hot-cocoa with whatever method you usually use, but with half the milk.
- Steam the rest of the milk and do your latte art pour into the hot-cocoa
- top with concentric rings or parallel lines of chocolate syrup and drag a toothpick through it for the desired effect.

The trick with the chocolate syrup is that it needs to be nearly same consistency as the milk foam so that it sits on top. If its too thick, it'll sink to the bottom. If it's too thin, then it'll mix with the milk foam and just look like an undefined chocolaty mess.
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iginfect
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#3: Post by iginfect »

I frequently make hot chocolate at night on my Vetrano but w/o art. Half 16 oz cup of milk with 4 tsps Hersheys cocoa powder, steam while mixing w/ a tsp dissolves the cocoa, continue until foam. At this point I add hot water from the other wand and can add vanilla, almond extract or rum. Latte art can be done with an appropriate pitcher with film and added on top instead of addind water etc. While a student in France in the 70's, hot chocolate was made in the restaurante universitaire by steaming a commercial chocolate milk on the espresso machine.

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jonny
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#4: Post by jonny »

I have had some successes with hot chocolate latte art. It is definitely more challenging than espresso. I put my dry mix (1 tbsp cacao powder, 2 tbsp confectioner sugar, a pinch of salt, a pinch of cinnamon, and just a touch of cayenne) in a 5-8 ounce cup, steam milk for a latte, pour a couple of ounces over the dry mix holding back the foam, stir until homogeneous, pour remaining milk like you would a latte. Try for a heart first, then a rosetta if you feel confident. I think the trick is getting the consistencies just right on the frothed milk and when it's mixed with the cocoa. I have been wanting to try it with ganache or a syrup instead of dry mix since that would speed up the mixing with the steamed milk so the rest of the milk doesn't separate.

A note about syrup: when I worked at sbux, we used a chocolate syrup (about as thick as Hersey's) and I would splash it with steamed milk, swirl to combine, and easily pour just as nice of a rosetta on it as I would a latte. But these would be on 12-16 oz cups which makes it a bit easier. The point is, syrup will work, and probably will work better than my dry mix since it takes like 30 seconds to mix the powder in well.

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cannonfodder
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#5: Post by cannonfodder »

I have made the chocolate at a concentrated level, enough to offset the milk being added, then just steam my milk and pour.
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johnlyn
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#6: Post by johnlyn »

I tend to do this as well for kids. I find it works well just by having 2 ounces of strong chocolate mix. I have used both powder and syrup. Then pour good quality microfoam and do up the art. most of the time it works, same can be said for my coffees, just occasionally it washes out. It even works in Ovaltine... the trick is still good microfoam, pour and play...

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allon
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#7: Post by allon »

I use ghiradelli's sweet ground chocolate - put a couple of spoonfuls in a latte cup, steam the milk, then pour an oz or two into the chocolate and stir well to make a thick liquid. Then pour the rest to make the art as you would in a latte.
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trihard
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#8: Post by trihard »

I have found that reducing the volume of stuff in the cup helps. So, in an 8oz cup, I add 1/2 tsp of Cocoa and a 1/2 tsp of Sugar. Add some hot water to get a mixture going -- blending is the key. If you don't stir well enough it will just turn to sludge at the bottom of the cup and not taste very good. I then add a drop or two of vanilla stevia. As some have said, getting good microfoam is key, and then you pour as your normally would for a latte and you can get some pretty good art. I also make a mocha very similarly, except that I add the shot of espresso to the chocolate liquid and stir that in very well, and then do the milk.

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TomC
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#9: Post by TomC »

allon wrote:I use ghiradelli's sweet ground chocolate - put a couple of spoonfuls in a latte cup, steam the milk, then pour an oz or two into the chocolate and stir well to make a thick liquid. Then pour the rest to make the art as you would in a latte.

+1

That's basically my method and choice of cocoa base. I think I decided on Ghiradelli after a Cooks Illustrated taste test review. Plus, this method is just incredibly quick and easy.
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Italyhound (original poster)
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#10: Post by Italyhound (original poster) »

Thanks for all the help.

Tomc - you have to use Ghiradelli - it's in your backyard :D

Evan

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