Italian Hot Chocolate is a thick decadent hot chocolate made from real chocolate. It's similar to French Hot Chocolate, but the method is different. But one thing's for sure, both are super delicious warming drinks perfect for the winter!
My hot chocolate recipe collection is growing fast and furiously thanks to the awesome Hot Chocolate Extravaganza that I’m running on my blog these days. Whether it’s this Three-Ingredient Creamy Homemade White Hot Chocolate, or this citrusy Orange Hot Chocolate that you first choose to make, I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed!
Picture this: You're walking down a cobbled street in a small Italian town. It's dusk time, and the wind is cold and blustery. You look around for a place where you can get a hot cup of coffee, and come across a small cafe. You ask for coffee, but your Italian is poor and the barista keeps saying something like Cioccolata Calda, Cioccolata Calda.
You have no idea what it is, but nod your head in agreement and hope it's something warm and comforting. After a few minutes he hands you a big, warm mug of liquid chocolate. At least that's what it looks like.
And then you take a sip, and you die and go to chocolate heaven.
Okay, you don't actually die and go to chocolate heaven. But that's how it feels as this magical liquid runs through your body and warms you to your very, very cold bones.
You look at the barista, and give him the biggest smile ever, because this is the best thing you've ever tasted in your life. And I mean, ever.
You actually want to hug the barista, but don't because that would just freak him out. Anyway you decide that you have found the love of your life (the Italian hot chocolate, not the barista lolz) and you live happily ever after.
The End.
What Exactly Is It?
It's a thick and creamy hot chocolate made from real chocolate, milk and sugar. This is the real deal, people.
It's almost pudding like and perfect for very cold winter days.
How Do you Make It?
This Italian hot chocolate is basically the same thing as drinking a chocolate bar in liquid form. That's because I used real chocolate (not just cocoa, although that makes a delicious appearance too, in this heavenly drink), namely Lindt, in this hot chocolate.
Now I have some instructions for you. If you follow these, you will be a very, very happy person soon. Take your favorite bar of milk or dark chocolate (I used Lindt), melt it with a bit of milk, add more milk, then add cocoa powder, sugar and corn starch, and stir until the hot chocolate is thick, thick, thick.
So thick that it coats the back of your wooden spoon, and when you run a finger down the spoon the hot chocolate stays.
And that's when you know your hot chocolate dreams have come true.
Enjoy!
Lindt Italian Hot Chocolate - Cioccolata Calda
Ingredients
- 4 oz milk or dark chocolate I used Lindt Milk Chocolate, but you can use your favorite brand
- 1 1/2 cups full fat milk 3 tablespoons of milk separated
- 1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder See notes
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt the chocolate with two tablespoons of milk on medium heat.
- Slowly add in the milk, continuously mixing with a wooden spoon.
- Add in the cocoa powder and sugar, mixing until fully incorporated.
- In a separate bowl mix the corn starch with one tablespoon of milk, and pour this mixture to the saucepan and mix until the hot chocolate has become thick and coats the back of your spoon.
- Top with cocoa powder, mini marshmallows or even sea salt.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Inspired by Bell'Alimento
FYI chocolate in Italian is spelled "cioccolato" just in case you wanna change that 🙂 excited to try out this recipe, I had many hot chocolates during my year in Italy and it's true, so much better than the normal kind!
I have officially died and gone to heaven. I love the thick Italian style hot chocolate, which I first tasted in Florence, on honeymoon. Making with Lindt is the way to hot chocolate perfection. Pinning, yumming and making... several times over.
Haha now you're my kind of a person...can we best friends? Thank you for stopping by! 🙂
Looking at your photos made me feel like I was in that Italian cafe.
who cares what the waiter was saying .. this is worth trying!!
Haha! All that matters is that mug of thick hot chocolate, right? Thank you for stopping by 🙂
Lindt Hot Chocolate... YES PLEASE!! I know I would love this!
Seriously it's so good, I literally had to hide it from myself because I have a massive sweet tooth!
Wow - this looks delicious! Definitely on my list for the holiday season.
I could see myself sipping on this decadent drink while reading a good book!
I love my chocolate. This would make my day to have one of these. Yum!!
I'm in chocolate heaven just reading about it ... can't wait to try it this way and experimenting with different kinds of chocolate too (i.e. chocolate caramel).
YUM! This looks so rich and chocolatey. I need to remember this one for the holiday season!
yumyumyum! I love hot chocolate recipes and this looks goooood!!!
Hi Wajeeha, your homemade hot chocolate looks delicious! I was just wondering how much sugar to use? Perhaps the amount is there but I just couldn't find it.
Hi Jillian, thanks for pointing it out! I forgot to add sugar to the recipe. I've fixed that now 🙂
Liquid, molten, Lindt Chocolate? Yes, yes, and YES! I can certainly see myself cozying up to this on a cold day.
Oh my! The pure decadence of it all is pouring right off of the screen! I need a cup of this right now! Heading to the kitchen! Yum! Thanks for sharing!
OMG!!! Lindt chocolate & cocoa?? ok thank you very much.
do you think skipping the cornstarch matters? i dont mind not being heavy if it doesnt affect the taste.
Hi Khadjia! I know, right? Like lindt chocolate + cocoa = love! Lol. Yes, you do need to use corn starch because that's what makes the hot chocolate thick...you won't taste it, promise! Also, if you don't mind a thinner consistency I suppose you could leave the corn starch out but that thick consistency is omg SO good! Can you tell I'm high on chocolate? Haha :p
love the story , and the chocolate too 🙂 never tried it this way ! This is a must try!
Thanks Farida! Glad you liked the recipe 🙂 The hot chocolate really is delicious and so simple to make too!