Barcelona-Style Hot Chocolate Recipe

I am working at the moment on a few new guitar stories to be posted possibly toward later in the upcoming week…

In the meantime:  my recipe for Barcelona-style hot chocolate.  It’s not as thick as the real thing but very close.  Most of the chocolate is so thick in Barcelona that you can stand a spoon upright inside the cup.

Barcelona-style Hot Chocolate

This makes about 2 coffee cups + 1 espresso cup in quantity.  Or 5 espresso cups total.

Ingredients

2 cups milk
1 espresso-sized cup of espresso
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 inch thick by 2 inch strip of fresh orange rind
3.5 oz. bar of good quality chocolate with at least 60% cocoa, broken into small pieces. Another option is this Valor Chocolate a la Taza Bar from Spain.

Instructions

Mix together the cocoa powder and cornstarch in a saucepan.  Whisk in milk little by little inside saucepan without heat until the dry ingredients become absorbed into the milk.  Add brown sugar, espresso and orange rind.  Heat gently.  As ingredients start to simmer, add chocolate pieces and whisk until melted.  Stir until chocolate has thickened, remove orange rind and serve.

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Recommended books for Spanish-style fare: Spain…A Culinary Road Trip, The Foods and Wines of Spain and 500 Tapas: The Only Tapas Compendium You’ll Ever Need (500 Series Cookbooks) (500 Cooking (Sellers)).

If you visit Barcelona, one great place to go for breakfast/lunch is Granja Viader, located at Carrer d’en Xuclà, 6 in Barcelona right of Las Ramblas.

Telephone 93 318 34 86
Open 5-8:30pm Mon; 9am-1:30pm, 5-8:30pm Tue-Sat.
Closed 2 weeks August.

The family has run their dairy farm and sold their specialty drinking chocolate since 1870 and the interior still has their vintage display counter and small marble cafe tables.  The service here is great along with the food but also, if you cannot have all the pastry/chocolate stuff, there are great options like a simple yogurt or Mató cheese with honey and walnuts or a sandwich with tea or coffee.  They do sell bags of powder for the hot chocolate that you can bring home as gifts, pero le recomiendo que hable español para comprarlo.  They will give you a sheet of instruction how to prepare the chocolate.

Be warned:  the place does get packed for a good reason and might have a line running out the front door and into the tiny, narrow street outside.

And if you are interested in trying other foods from around the world without leaving your armchair, click here.

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