Fireball Mexican Hot Chocolate Recipe, Whats Cooking America (2024)

FAQs

Fireball Mexican Hot Chocolate Recipe, Whats Cooking America? ›

Fireball Mexican Hot Chocolate: 4 (1-ounce) squares Mexican Chocolate* 2 tablespoons honey. 1/4 cup hot water.

Mexican hot chocolate contains spices like cinnamon and chili and chopped bittersweet chocolate to create a very rich but less sweet flavor. Whereas traditional American hot chocolate is usually made with a combination of cocoa powder and/or chocolate and tends to be more on the sweet side.

Ingredients in Mexican Hot Chocolate

This Mexican hot chocolate is made with real milk, 100% unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla extract, cinnamon, chili powder, and a little bittersweet chocolate to make the whole thing a bit creamier and smoother.

In my experience, American hot chocolate is made with lots of milk, powdered cocoa and plenty of sugar. The result is a delicious concoction, but very different from the liquid chocolateness that characterizes its Italian counterpart. I was shocked by how rich and dark this drink was when I first tried it.

The Aztecs used a Molinillo, which is a Mexican wooden whisk, to froth hot chocolate and other drinks such as atoles. It's a very old kitchen tool and very little historical records exist prior to the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores to Mexico.

The main difference between Mexican chocolate and chocolate from the rest of the world is its texture. Many chocolates from Europe and the rest of the world use more cocoa butter and more sugar, which makes them sweeter in taste, and gives them a smoother, creamier texture.

Mexican chocolate should taste intense and have a rustic texture. Its flavor is due to the fact that the cacao beans are simply roasted and ground into a liquor, whereas a lot of European-style chocolate takes things a step further, using a conching machine to aerate the chocolate liquor and mellow out its flavor.

For generations, Nestlé Abuelita Authentic Mexican Style Hot Chocolate Mix has been an essential part of the Hispanic kitchen. Its perfect balance of cocoa, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon gives it a distinctively delicious “calor de hogar” taste.

Nestlé Abuelita Hot Chocolate Tablets

This is one of the most famous brands of hot chocolate from Mexico.

It Started in Mexico

As early as 500 BC, the Mayans were drinking chocolate made from ground-up cocoa seeds mixed with water, cornmeal, and chili peppers (as well as other ingredients)—a much different version from the hot chocolate we know today.

Why is Mexican hot chocolate better? ›

If you want a truly authentic experience, use Mexican chocolate. This type of chocolate has a lower sugar content and a more intense flavor. If you want a sweeter drink, add more sugar to taste. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper to the recipe to make it spicier.

Hot chocolate is consumed throughout the world and comes in multiple variations, including the spiced chocolate para mesa of Latin America, the very thick cioccolata calda served in Italy and chocolate a la taza served in Spain, and the thinner hot cocoa consumed in the United States.

Mexican chocolate, meanwhile, falls somewhere on the scale between dark chocolate and milk chocolate — with its own entirely unique flavor profile, of course! Like many Mexican candies, Mexican chocolate carries a twist of spice and heat, usually from spices like cinnamon, chili powder, or cayenne pepper.

The molinillo, or stirrer—this one dating from the 1930s—is a utensil with a certain flair, used for centuries to whip up a foam on hot-chocolate drinks in Mexican and Central American kitchens.

Replace the Mexican chocolate called for in your recipe with an equal amount of semisweet chocolate or cocoa powder. Add 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and, if you like, a drop of almond extract for every ounce of chocolate.

Mexican hot chocolate has a different taste than other hot chocolates, as it has a bold chocolate taste and incorporates spices and flavors like cinnamon. Its unique tablet form creates a frothy and rich drinking experience.

Champurrado is traditionally made with Mexican chocolate, masa harina or corn flour, piloncillo (a type of cane sugar), cinnamon, and water or milk. The masa or corn flour gives it a thicker consistency than regular hot chocolate.

And that's about it. In the tradition of Mexican chocolate, there is no conching (long, thorough mixing), no intensive refining, no addition of cocoa butter. What you end up with is a chocolate that feels and tastes truer to the bean than its velvety counterparts on the other side of the pond.