I decided my blog needs more chocolate! Well, it needs at least some chocolate! I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, so basically my dessert section is shamefully empty. Mea culpa (hangs head in shame). Must admit I don’t really care much for dessert, much less desserts laden with sugar and cream. It’s just not my thing; I’m a savory kinda girl.

With one sweet exception; hot chocolate orange milk. This has got to be the best chocolatemilk I’ve ever tasted. Creamy white and dark chocolate with a subtle hint of orange. I replaced the cream with coconut milk because I love the slight flavor it adds.

Ingredients:

2 oz dark chocolate
2 oz white chocolate
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cup milk
2 tsp orange juice
1/8 tsp orange zest
1/8 tsp vanilla essence

Optional: whipped cream

Directions:

Rinse an orange, grate the zest and squeeze out some juice.

You can do this with cream as well, but try coconut milk for a change! It’s not necessarily lower in calories (it is far more nutritional!) even though mine was, but it really ads a hint of flavor that works beautifully in chocolate milk. Pour 1/4 cup of coconut milk or cream in a pan.

Go for any kind of chocolate you like—I’m addicted to the slightly bitter flavor of really good dark chocolate, so I opted for 75%.

The white chocolate, well, it doesn’t really matter; white chocolate doesn’t even exist. It’s merely cocoa butter with lotsa sugar and vanilla flavoring.

Break 2oz of dark and 2oz of white chocolate in small pieces (put the rest of the dark chocolate in the fridge) and add them to the coconut milk, also add a heaping 1/8 tsp orange zest and 1/8 tsp vanilla extract. Melt everything over really low heat.

Once the chocolate has melted, whisk until you end up with a beautifully dark, satin-like chocolate cream. No, I get to lick the spoon!

Pour in 1 and a half cup of milk, or stick to 1 cup if you like it really chocolatey (is that a word?).

Also pour in at least 2 tsp orange juice, I’ll often go for 3 or 4, it really depends on the flavor of the orange juice. Just taste it to see if it needs more, you’re looking for a hint of orange. Heat everything over medium heat until it’s hot, but not boiling.

Noticed the 2 tsp measuring spoon? Lemme show off my new babies. Odd size measuring spoons. I think I shrieked when I found them. Will I ever recover from this measuring spoons addiction?

Of course it’s not a real chocolate milk unless it’s topped it with an indecent amount of whipped cream. Solely for photographic purposes, of course (wipes chin).

Pour the chocolate milk in a pretty glass, top it with whipped cream, a little grated orange zest and use a vegetable peeler on the chocolate you put in the fridge earlier. It makes for really quick and easy chocolate curls garnish.