The Best Hot Chocolate Ever | 3 Levels: Easy to Expert

Today I'm going to be showing you how to make three levels of hot chocolate. Now I absolutely love a good hot chocolate, especially when the weather gets colder, but do you know how to make a really good hot chocolate at home? Well today I'm going to show you my recipes for an easy, intermediate and expert level hot chocolate so you can make an amazing hot chocolate from the comfort of your own home with only a few ingredients. This first hot chocolate is the quickest and easiest option, you only need milk, It's a classic creamy hot chocolate that always hits the spot. So I'm starting with whole milk but you can use any milk you like. Just pour it into a saucepan on a medium heat and keep stirring until it's steaming but not boiling. Once it's hot, whisk in the sugar and the cocoa powder. You can add or reduce the amount of sugar you use to adjust the sweetness to your preference. And now just whisk these together until they're nice and smooth. Now pour it into your favourite mug, I just want to say this isn't my favourite mug, this is just for the video so you guys can see it better. I do have more exciting mugs than this. You know what, it was going so well. So I've made a mess, surprise surprise, but let's get our marshmallows on and we'll clear up later. I absolutely love mini marshmallows on a hot chocolate, I just love it when they go nice and gooey, make sure you get a full layer to cover the top. Okay let's try it. Oh that's so nice, it's just a classic nice homemade hot chocolate. It reminds me of my childhood, it's very nostalgic this one. Also I do think this is better than like 90% of coffee shops hot chocolates anyway. On to the next one. All right, on to the level two hot chocolate. For this one we're actually going to be using real chocolate. It's richer, it's creamier than the last one but it's still really easy to make. I'm going to start by finely chopping up the chocolate. I'm using 55% cocoa today but you can use any chocolate you like. The higher the cocoa percentage the more bitter it will be and the lower the cocoa percentage the sweeter and creamier it will be. I've got these really handy board scrapers so I'm going to use them to pick up my chocolate. I just think that's so clever. I'm going to be using whole milk again because it's nice and rich and creamy but any milk will work. Just heat it in a saucepan on a medium heat until it's steaming but not boiling. Same as before. Now that's steaming hot I'm going to add in our chopped chocolate and I'm just going to stir this until it's melted and smooth. Now that's all melted I'm going to add a tablespoon of sugar. This is totally optional by the way, you don't have to add this at all. It's just to sweeten it a little bit. If you've used a sweeter creamier chocolate then you probably won't need it. If you use a very dark one then you might want to add it. So just stir that in until it's dissolved. I'm also going to add a tiny bit of vanilla extract to this one too. You could, if you wanted to, add something like peppermint extract or orange extract or even like an almond or hazelnut extract as well. All of those would taste amazing. I'm going to try not to make a mess with this one. Wish me luck. Oh I was so close! I'm going to add a big fancy marshmallow to this one. I'm excited to try this one. Oh my gosh, that's so good. It's so rich and chocolatey. The marshmallow is melting on top, it's just so good. I do think for a little bit of extra time and effort, this is definitely worth it. I can taste the vanilla in it and the chocolate that I used, I can really taste that particular chocolate coming through. So I'd recommend you use a chocolate that you really like because that's exactly what it will taste like. Okay, on to number three. Okay, on to our third and final level. This is the expert level hot chocolate and we're making it Italian style. Unfortunately, I've never tried the hot chocolate in Italy so I don't know if this is 100% authentic but all of my research has pointed me towards this being the richest, chocolatiest, creamiest, most amazing hot chocolate you will ever try. I'm really excited for this one so let's get into it. I'm actually going to start by making the topping first so it's ready when we are. So I'm going to pour the double cream or heavy cream into a bowl and then grab your electric hand mixer or you can just use a regular whisk if you're feeling energetic today and want to do it by hand. And we're just going to whisk this to soft peaks, just like that. So I'm just going to set this aside until we're ready. Now you're going to finely chop up your chocolate. I'm going to be using 70% cocoa for this one because it's not too bitter but I would recommend using at least 70% for this one because it will give that thickness and richness that you're looking for. And then just scoop that up. See if I can get this all in one. Ah, almost. And into the bowl. Just lost a couple of bits. Grab a small bowl, then you're going to add in cornflour or cornstarch and half a cup of milk, any milk of your choice and we're just going to whisk those together until it's nice and smooth and just set that aside for now. Now place your saucepan on a medium heat and you're going to add in your milk, your cocoa powder and your sugar, which is totally optional by the way, you can add as much or as little as you want to suit your taste and a pinch of salt as well, which is really going to enhance the chocolate flavour and you're just going to keep stirring this until it's really nice and hot. Okay, that is really nice and hot now so I'm going to add in our chocolate and our cornflour slurry that we made earlier. Now turn off the heat and keep stirring until all the chocolate is melted and then continue stirring until it turns really thick. Okay, let's pour this in and I'm going to add our whipped cream on top and now for the taste test. I am so excited to try this one. If you love chocolate, this is the one for you. It's incredible. So there you have it, an easy, intermediate and expert level hot chocolate that you guys can make at home. I really hope you enjoyed this video. If you did, don't forget to like and subscribe and let me know which hot chocolate you think would be your favourite or which one you try and I'll see you in the next video. Bye guys! Oh, it's so hot. Oh my gosh, I think I've burnt my tongue. It's really, really nice though. I've got to wait.