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The Good Stuff!
An abundance of flavors burst over my tongue as the soft as silk and thicker than syrup warmth slowly slid down my throat.
What am I talking about?
Hot Chocolate! Chocolat Chaud! Heiße Schokolade! Ciccolata Calda! De hete Bonbon! Chocolate Quente! Горячий Шоколад! Varm Sjokolade! Chocolate Caliente! However you say choose to call it, personally I call it my addiction!
So, why am I blogging about this calorie riddled treat? It is a testament to the power of coincidence and why some believe everything happens for a reason.
Let’s see, where to start, how about with a few coincidences: It’s almost Valentine’s Day, a holiday where chocolate is often given to a loved one, and I’ve recently returned from a trip to Paris where they have a fantastic selection of the good stuff. Then there is the list I found in a magazine noting the four best places for hot chocolate around the world. Add in an article my mom clipped from another magazine for my sister and I can’t help but marvel at how interesting it is when a variety of things collide to make up a couple of weeks. Not that I’m superstitious, but I don’t question why things happen or when they do. So, I figure this once I’ll take advantage of a variety of things coming together and tell you all about my quest for the perfect cup of hot chocolate while in the City of Light.
Three pots [a pot holds about 2 and a half cups] were tested – okay, joyously consumed – and here are my findings.
Dalloyau was my first stop. On the day we arrived, after being delayed on the tarmac for almost 5 hours, we were driven around and shown a different side of the city many will never see. Later, when we stopped, we feasted on a selection of salt and sweet [or savory and sweet] finger foods. There are seven shops in Paris and we went to the Luxembourg location [opposite the Jardin du Luxembourg – an incredibly beautiful garden, even when not in bloom]. The restaurant is above the shop and seats maybe 30 people, at a push. The walls were alternating stripes, about 20 inches wide, using rich dark chocolate brown and shimmering silver. Sitting was a mixture of couches and chairs, relaxed but still elegant. Service was good [we had the same gentleman when we returned for lunch on another day and thankfully he worked with my limited French]. Now that I’ve set the scene, here is what I found. This was not a mug or large cup, but an average demitasse size and when the chocolate was poured it was thick, very very thick. Warm, but not so hot you can’t instantly have a sip. Oh my, it was lovely. Yes, it was sweet but not as much as you think. After I poured the second cup…you couldn’t do this if it was too sweet…and sipped my way through the caviar and cheese course and into the sugar treats. La Opera and the macaroons were their best offerings, although there was one that was like a raspberry sherbet and fresh blueberries on top. Absolutely delicious cup of molten chocolate!
Three days later we shopped and by lunch time we were at Ladurée – what a surprise, I was working the map that day. Founded in 1862, this was the oldest shop of the three we visited and inside it appeared as old with wedding cake like elegance – lovely. There are eight shops, five in Paris and the one we went to was Ladurée Royal – across from Eglise la Madeline [a church]. Entering through the shop, you turn to the side and separated by screens and plants is a gem of a room. Frescoes framed in gold, mirrors, paneling, with a seating for maybe 20-25 people. This was a place for the white gloves and party manners. Ordering a pot of chocolat chaud and, although they are famous for their macaroons, I chose a pain au chocolate [chocolate croissant]. They arrived using pretty bright pastel rimmed in gold china and a silver pot to hold the goods. Pouring this offering into my cup I found it not horribly dark in color, but fairly thick, and it had a lovely flavor…with a bit of chicory [I thought], at the end. To help dispel the thought this is a sweet beverage, let me tell you all three house placed two sucre tubes [sugar tubes] on the saucer and yes they were necessary here. A divine cup of chocolate.
The first day after everyone else left and it was just the cutie and I, we took off for a walk around Paris. We passed the Louvre and made our way through the Jardin des Tulieries and over to the last stop, Angelina. This was one of the shops listed as one of the top four cups of hot chocolate around the world. It holds many more people than the other two, between upstairs and the ground floor, maybe 100. There is an aura of the belle époque style surrounding the space, along with a light and airy feeling, despite being packed in. We sat at a table in a room off the main one and found it enchanting. Here the favored pastry is Mont Blanc [the cutie chose that one and it was good, but huge!]. Our pot arrived with a side dish full of freshly whipped cream and a small carafe of chilled water. Despite the claim this chocolat chaud was so thick you could stand a spoon in it [this was the least thick of our three] it was a wonderful pot of chocolate. I think it was the dollop of cream you added to each cup and the water to clean your palette every once in a while. Pure decadence in a cup.
In the end there was no clear cut winner, they were all good! Each place and pot was different, I guess it depends on the mood you’re in as to which one you go for. The atmosphere of each was unique, then there was the thickness of Dalloyau, the cream at Angelina or the various flavors at Ladurée …I’d visit each one again. However, I should be honest here and say there are many many other shops in Paris who reportedly offer fabulous hot chocolate. Café de la Paix, Les Deux Magots, Berthillon, Charles Chocolatier, delicabar, Hote Meurice, Jean-Paul Hévin, La Charlotte de l‘Îsle, La Maison du Chocolat, Pâtisserie Viennoise, and SIP Babylon. And, you can be sure I’ll expand on my findings next time I visit.
Now, is it possible to make a cup of hot chocolate made at home just as exciting as these? Absolutely! Here are a few tips:
1. Use milk instead of water, whisk it in the pan [or purchase a mini café frother] and whip it up before pouring into your warmed cup [swish a little hot water inside before pouring the good stuff].
2. At the end, add a small square of a chocolate bar – or in the bottom of your warmed cup and let the hot chocolate melt it and mix in.
3. Whether you add mini marshmallows or whipped cream, save a little bit of the chocolate powder to sprinkle on top – presentation is just as important to the experience.
In the end, no matter how you go about it, a cup of hot chocolate is a fabulous choice to make when looking for something special.
So, what is your favorite hot drink? Tomorrow morning I’ll have the cutie pull a name from those who comment for a Tilly Greene tote bag.
Tilly Greene, author of scorching romances
www.tillygreene.com
New Beginnings: Carpe Diem, available now at Samhain Publishing
Zandia, Summer 2007 at Samhain Publishing
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I’m a big coffee drinker but since it’s been so cold here in Ohio, I’ve been drinking lots of hot chocolate, too. And I sprinkle chocolate powder on top like you do. Oh yeah, I drink hot green tea sometimes, too. Tilly, thanks for all the wonderful descriptions of your Paris trip. I’m jealous because I have never been to Europe. Thanks for sharing.
I’d drink Chocolate in every season, hot in winter and cold in summer.
Sometimes, when I’m not feeling particularly well, I’ll have a pot of peppermint tea. It very soothing to drink, but other than that, I never drink tea or coffee.
I’m glad you enjoyed a quick jaunt abroad – all without having to experience screaming kids [fully understood where they were coming from as well] in a small space or 5 hour delays either :-)
So with you on that one Mona – hmmm, guess that was obvious after all this. But I feel no shame in the confession, I’m a proud lover of hot chocolate in winter of summer [will have to try it cold].
Okay, the warm mug of Ovaltine I’m sipping just isn’t going to cut it! :)
Your trip sounded like heaven! Thanks for sharing. Loved your descriptions of the shops.
I’m a big tea drinker—herbal teas mostly. But, I love hot chocolate.
Thanks for taking us on a trip through Paris. It was yummy! I saw a show on TV last week about chocolate—it’s history and how it’s produced. Very fascinating.
You realize, of course, that I’m going to have to have a cup of hot chocolate this afternoon. Thankfully it’s cold enough outside to really enjoy it!
Thanks for the tip of putting a piece of chocolate at the bottom of the cup. I never would have thought of doing that. :-)
Oh no Margo, that mug of Ovaltine is fabulous – just as my bag of orange options was last night and the nestle I’ll have in a little bit. You know why? Because it’s there – in our hands!
For me, the shops were all so different, each experience and the pot were unique because of it, so had to be included for a full and ummm, unbiased review :-)
I enjoy bringing people of to the dark side NJ – the side of “who cares its tasty!”
The cutie taught me the chocolate trick, – it sparks up the cup and makes it that much more special, unique, and bloody good :-)
Glad you enjoyed the trip, especially after recently seeing the history of chocolate.
OK, why can’t I get that italics thing to work? Sigh, better go have some hot choclate instead.
Excellent decision Gia…chocolate does help your memory after all :-)
Or better still, why didn’t my first post go through. You know, I am sitting here drooling with envy and totally jealous…maybe I can’t get this to work because I’ve slobbered all over my keyboard. Bad, mean, chocolate taunting Tilly. I need Johnny Depp in Chocolat.
or better still Johnny Depp dipped in chocolate :-) Oh, bad Tilly, bad bad bad, but it does sound so delicious!
I’ve discovered After Eight hot chocolate. Mint and chocolate together is to die for. I’m also fond of Apple cider around the holidays.
I miss Paris. I was there when I was seventeen, much too young to appreciate all I saw. You’re descriptions sent me back (I was there over New Year’s so nothing was in bloom then either).
Ahhh, After Eight mints. It’s not Christmas for my cutie without them or a Terry’s Chocolate Orange, oh, and the Cadbury’s chocolate stocking – and our freezer is full of all these and more to prove it :-)
Not too young to appreciate, you were just in to other things than you are now.
I love hot chocolate as well. I have got to try your recipe. Thanks for sharing. I also love hot tea. My favorite flavor is vanilla caramel.produced by Bigelow.
Hmmm, vanilla caramel, sounds like an interesting mix…a bit like one of those Werther Original treats. Have at it and enjoy :-)
Don’t worry Tilly your chocolate confession is safe with me. We chocolate lovers should stick together, don’t you think? Great trip to Paris you’ve got there. Hope all your trips to be that wonderful
He he he, just between you and me :-)
(slithers up beside Tilly) Oh, but I live here on the darkside already LOL!!!! Truly, I love hot chocolate and if I can have it with beinets then, my day is very complete. Thanks for making me get up off my behonkus and go make some chocolate. Surely that counts as exercise, right? (snicker)
I drink green tea like it’s going out of fashion, but I do enjoy a good hot chocolate. In Edinburgh there’s a great place, Plaisir du Chocolat, which serves Aztec chocolate with chillis in it, plus various other kinds as well as a very good tea menu. And the desserts are to die for, too – the best creme brulee I’ve had outside of France.
Great post, Tilly. Sounds like you had a memorable trip to Paris!
I love coffee and chocolate, unfortunately since my stomach started acting up again, I can’t have either.
Jenna – I count it as excercise :-)
Olivia – I’m marking that one down for the next time I’m up that way…I’ve read about the Aztec chocolate and the idea of chillis in it is interesting.
Jerri – It was the coffee’s fault! Kidding :-) A friend of mine is allergic to chocolate but can have white chocolate. I’ve tried a few mugs of that and it is completely different but very delicious. Maybe give it a try.
Morning Everyone!
Thank you all for sharing your favored hot beverages on these chilly days. It’s good to know I’m not alone in my love for the hot chocolate.
Okay, the cutie just picked the number ‘15’ – Cherie – congratulations, I’ll contact you for your mailing address and get a Tilly Greene tote bag sent off to you.
Again, it was lovely everyone and I’ll see you on my next go around :-)
Tilly
Thanks so much! I will get my address to you. I did get your email.
I’m doing Weightwatchers right now but this winter has been sooooo cold I’ve been loathe to give up my hot chocolate!
I know this is nothing like the amazing stuff you had in Paris, but if you’re seriously watching calories like I am, here’s what I do: I get fat-free hot chocolate mix (you can get sugar-free, but I go for just fat-free), and plop in 1 or 2 Tb. of fat-free half & half. This keeps your 1-point (WW lingo, sorry) cup of happiness at 1 point, as long as you don’t add more than 2 Tb.
For a splurge, I add a splash of Bailey’s Irish Cream Mint Chocolate. So worth the extra calories! :D
Carolan – this sounds like a great alternative, and like I said, have the joy is enjoying where you are as you sip the good stuff. The amount I’m drinking with this cold weather – I need to watch the calories.
I agree that half the fun is enjoying the moment and the place you’re in. When we were in Paris a few years ago, we were enjoying a lovely bottle of white wine at a little cafe. As we discussed taking a few bottle of it home with us, the waiter commented that if we did, it wouldn’t taste as good – because we wouldnt be drinking it in Paris! :D
Smart waiter :-)