Hot chocolate and of course Cafe Angelina in Paris

This place makes hot chocolate so thick that you can it eat it with a spoon  ..yes I said eat it.  Cafe Angelina has been around a long time, located at 226 Rue Rivoli, in the first arrondisement ..also in the  Bois de Boulogne and a couple of other places (see http://www.angelina-paris.fr/en/ ). If you love chocolate and you can afford the calories this is a must stop in Paris.  For a while they had an outpost in Galeries Lafayette so you could shop and then indulge the desire but alas it went. 

If you really want to feel like a stuffed goose also have the Mont Blanc dessert but then do not expect to be able to move.

Now how to make one of these hot chocolates? The hot chocolate in Cafe Angelina is made to a secret recipe  (a bit like Coke!!! ...not sure how I can consider a comparison)

Sometimes in Italy they serve hot chocolate like this.  There are many recipes for hot chocolate, with many including cinnamon, vanilla, salt, Mexican chocolate, dark chocolate, liqueurs, etc etc.  Some say the thickness comes from using high quality chocolate.  That is pure rubbish.  In Italy they will add corn starch to the chocolate and milk as they heat it to make it into a custard like consistency.  To get that rich mouth feel you need to add some thickener and I am sure that Angelina uses xantham gum, as this does not add the flavour that corn starch gives to the hot chocolate.

Get yourself some of your favourite chocolate, whole cream milk and melt it slowly over a slow flame.  Try adding a small amount of roux made from corn starch already diluted with hot milk and mix it into the chocolate milk and cook it till you get the thickness you like. Or try the same trick with the gum.