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Hot chocolate

Merrilees Parker from Food Uncut
For a special cup of cocoa, try Merrilees Parker's formula for a rich creamy chocolate drink with two liqueurs

Hot chocolate

Method

1. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl. Bring the cream to a boil, then turn off the heat. Ladle about 200ml of the hot cream over the chocolate to melt it into a pouring liquid. Reserve and keep warm.

2. Whisk the sugar and the egg yolks together until well blended. Ladle one scoop of the remaining hot cream into the sugar/yolk mixture with one hand, and whisk it in vigorously with the other. Repeat with a second ladleful of cream.

3. Then pour the "tempered" yolks and sugar into the saucepan holding the remaining cream, whisking continuously as you pour. Place the saucepan over very low heat and stir continuously with a wooden spoon or a flexible spatula. Continue to thoroughly stir over low heat to cook the egg yolks and thicken the mixture. This will take about 20 minutes. Monitor the thickness of the mixture by dragging your finger across the spatula or spoon: If it leaves a path through the cream and doesn't run, it's ready. If the egg yolks scramble, don't worry. Just run the mixture through a strainer before adding the chocolate and liqueurs.

4. Add the chocolate, milk and liqueurs. Continue to stir occasionally until the mixture has cooled enough to drink. Ladle into small demitasse cups and serve.