Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix

Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix tied with raffia

Ever have one of those panic moments when you need a quick present for a neighbor or as an unexpected Hostess Gift?  A simple hot chocolate mix perfectly fits the bill.  With the popularity of our Peppermint Hot Chocolate Mix, Liv has put together a new version, the ever popular Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix with cinnamon and brown sugar
Arriving home one afternoon, I found my girl in the midst of plundering our pantry and unwrapping an Ibarra Chocolate disc.  Wrapped in an attractive, bright yellow wrapper, the packaging is indeed eye catching, though the chocolate inside is not the usual candy bar version.  With ingredients including undissolved sugar, the discs provide a bit of a gritty texture, and the cinnamon flavor can be somewhat unexpected if you don't know it's there.  Not really meant to be eaten out of hand (though you most certainly can if you want to), Ibarra is best used in Hot Cocoa.

Our experience has found that brown sugar adds a nice richness to the mix, and an additional touch of cinnamon warms the body just that much more.  Layered into a cute jar, tied with a ribbon and sent with a quick note of directions, you will have your hostess gift put together in a flash, or... a Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix ready for a cold, rainy afternoon all for you.


Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix


Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix
Our recipe is meant for about 3 hot cocoa servings, however you can scale your recipe as desired using this handy Recipe Scaling Calculator.

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
pinch salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbs chopped Mexican Chocolate such as Ibarra

Layer ingredients into a jar, top with marshmallows if desired (Liv loved them, I didn't...).  Attach a cute card with a description and directions, and tie with a ribbon.  

Directions:  Heat 3 cups milk in a saucepan until small bubbles appear on the sides, reduce heat and add contents of jar.  Stir until dissolved.  Serve with additional marshmallows or whipped cream if desired.

Bomb!

9 comments:

  1. I love little gift ideas like this, they are so simple and usually the person receiving it loves it. I mean come on, who wouldn't love a cup of hot chocolate during this time of year?? I've never heard of mexican hot chocolate, but I definitely want to try it, the ingredients seem really good! I'll be expecting mine in the mail before Christmas, thanks for sharing :)

    Sincerely,
    Happy Valley Chow

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  2. The last photo made me laugh out loud and I'm still smiling ear-to-ear. She's so cute.

    This is a great home made Christmas gift, especially since so many of you deluded people love chocolate. :P

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  3. In the wonderful movie 'Chocolat' one of the sorts served at the Chocolaterie was Mexican Hot Chocolate...and it didn't involve cinnamon, it incorporated chili powder homemade from scratch. Its a great movie, romantic, good storyline. Remember Chocolate / Cocoa originated from the Mayans / Aztec, from the hot middle America regions like Mexico and more south.

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  4. What a fabulous idea! We participate in a holiday gift exchange with our neighbors and edible presents are always the most popular. This hit chocolate will definitely be in the rotation this year :)

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  5. Lovely gift idea...recently I saw chcolate chip cookie mixes layered in cute mason jars at Costco, and I thought, that's a really neat idea for a present :-)

    Loved this one!!

    Regards,
    Manju
    http://manjuseatingdelights.blogspot.com/

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  6. This is a great stocking stuffer idea.....thanks!

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  7. You come up with the cutest gifts for Christmas!!! I just love this idea!

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  8. Mexican hot chocolate is one of my favorites-love this gift idea! I haven't don't any baking or making yet this holiday season, so guess what I'm doing this weekend?!

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