Do you carry dark chocolate in your purse in case of emergencies? Do you fall for the chocolate that’s placed so dangerously beside the register every time you check out at Trader Joe’s? Is your hand rooting through your top desk drawer for a piece as you read this? If yes, I made this French Hot Chocolate just for you. Also, we are kindred spirits.
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Packets of store-bought hot chocolate mix were a fixture in our home growing up and eventually followed me to college, where I “cooked” steaming mugs for friends by boiling water in my fire hazard of a hotpot.
It didn’t matter which hot chocolate brands I tried. My hot chocolate attempts always ended the same way: me, poking at stubborn lumps of sugary cocoa floating on top of milky water, attempting to get the mix to dissolve smoothly. If you’ve used a hot chocolate powder, you know the struggle.
While those instant packets still hold a nostalgic place in my heart, it wasn’t until I visited Paris that I understood the true meaning of the words hot chocolate—emphasis on the chocolate, please.
Forget the powders, the mixes, the annoying little clumps.
What we have in our mugs today is something else entirely. This is a thick drinking chocolate recipe that will make you feel as if you have been transported to a French café!
What Is French Hot Chocolate?
French hot chocolate is not for the casual chocolate dabbler, the chocolate shy, or anyone with an aversion to heavy cream. It’s made with rich, dark European chocolate. This hot chocolate recipe is for true chocolate lovers! It’s rich and creamy and will transport your taste buds to a French bistro.
French hot chocolate is deep, dark, and utterly magnificent. I will never forget my first sip. I was 16 and in Europe for the first time, visiting my Uncle R.D. He took me to the celebrated Café Angelina in Paris, famous world wide for its decadent hot chocolate. My chocolate-loving heart never quite recovered, and I’ve been lovestruck since.
I ordered Cafe Angelina’s le chocolat chaud, expecting something similar to the hot chocolate packets of my youth. Oh my, I could not have been more mistaken. What arrived was not a milky brown, mildly chocolatey broth but a thick, gloriously rich mug of steaming chocolate velvet. It was bittersweet and so thick, I suspected the chef had simply melted a bar of the finest quality Parisian chocolate directly into my mug.
After developing this recipe, I’m reasonably certain he did.
I miss and think of France—where I eventually went on to study abroad and later returned for a month—often, but some days are more nostalgic than others. I was having a particularly sentimental afternoon on a chilly day, and since I didn’t think it appropriate to fix myself an entire batch of Slow Cooker Spiced Wine, a mug of steaming French hot chocolate proved to be the perfect remedy to take me back to Paris.
I searched the web for Café Angelina’s hot chocolate recipe, combined what I read with my own memories of it, and I must say, I think this French hot chocolate recipe is pretty darn close.
My search for how to make the perfect European hot chocolate recipe lead me down some interesting Wiki rabbit holes as well. Here’s what I learned:
How to Make Real Hot Chocolate
- You must use real, good-quality chocolate bars. Homemade hot chocolate recipes contain very few ingredients, and the largest ingredient is chocolate, so be picky.
Use dark or bittersweet chocolate. Milk chocolate will be too sweet, at least for most European tastebuds. - ^^That said, this is YOUR hot chocolate. If you prefer sweet and want to go with milk, I say, cheers!
- I have the most success with a blend of whole milk and cream. Some recipes call for almost entirely cream, but that was a bit much for me. I recommend a blend of the two.
- Do not use water. This might be OK for a packet mix in a pinch, but we are in the business of REAL hot chocolate today, and real hot chocolate needs milk.
- Need dairy-free hot chocolate? I recommend full-fat coconut milk for a similar experience. I haven’t tried this recipe with dairy-free chocolate bars yet, so I’m afraid I can’t say how that would work out. (But if you do try, I’d love to hear how it goes!)
How to Thicken Hot Chocolate
- This one is easy. WITH MORE CHOCOLATE. This recipe will feel like you are using a ridiculous amount of chopped chocolate, but trust me and go with it. You will not be sorry.
How Hot Chocolate Was Invented + A Brief French Hot Chocolate History
Not directly related, but I stumbled upon it and found it interesting, so here you go! This is a super abbreviated version, but hopefully it gives you an idea.
- As early as 500 BC, Mayans in Mexico were drinking chocolate made from ground-up cocoa seeds mixed with water, cornmeal, and chili peppers. It was cold, bitter, and very different from the French hot chocolate we are making today.
In the early 1500s, the Spanish explorer Cortez brought cocoa beans and chocolate drink-making gear to Europe, where it was adopted by the Spanish upper class. (Yep. It was Spanish hot chocolate before it was French hot chocolate.) - People started to like drinking chocolate better when served hot, sweetened, and without the chili peppers.
In the early 1600s, Louis XIII’s wife brings hot chocolate to France, where it eventually became quite the hit at Versailles. The kings and queens were INTO IT. Can you blame them? - Enter: Industrial Revolution. The drink becomes more accessible and chocolate more affordable. Hot chocolate for all!
- A 16-year-old girl goes to Paris. She falls in love with le chocolat chaud (<—French hot chocolate translation). Years later, she posts a French hot chocolate recipe on an American food blog.
And here we are today.
This French hot chocolate recipe has the richness and consistency of Angelina’s chocolat chaud, though I remember Angelina’s being even more intensely chocolate flavored, to the extent that it almost wasn’t sweet, a situation the restaurant resolved by serving its hot chocolate with a giant pot of sweetened whipped cream to stir into it.
I find that American chocolate in general is sweeter than many of its European counterparts, so to balance it out, I added a touch of instant espresso powder to my version of the recipe. If you prefer a sweeter hot chocolate, feel free to omit it.
This French hot chocolate recipe will yield two aggressively sized mugs of the deepest, darkest drinking chocolate for two voracious chocolate lovers or smaller mugs for a group of three or four.
For a larger batch, check out my Crockpot Hot Chocolate.
If you are looking for a single serving of hot chocolate my 2-Ingredient Hot Chocolate hits the spot or for something on the lighter side, try this Healthy Hot Chocolate.
But for the darkest drinking chocolate in all its luscious, unabashed, truffle-like glory, this French Hot Chocolate has no equal.
Santé!
French Hot Chocolate
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder optional, but delicious for intensifying chocolate flavor
- 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate at least 70%, chopped*
- Giant bowl of whipped cream for serving
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the whole milk, heavy cream, powdered sugar, and espresso powder until small bubbles appear around the edges. Do not allow the mixture to boil.
- Remove from saucepan from the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until melted, returning the sauce to low heat if needed for the chocolate to melt completely. Serve warm, topped with lots of whipped cream.
Video
Notes
- *Choose the best quality chocolate you can, as the flavor really carries the drink. I love Guittard for a splurge, Ghirardelli, or Godiva, but the Trader Joe’s Pound Plus 72% bar is quite good too. I do not recommend chocolate chips, as they contain stabilizers and do not melt as well.
- Leftover French hot chocolate can be cooled to room temperature, then refrigerated in an airtight container (empty mason or jam jars work particularly well). Reheat gently the in the microwave or in a saucepan over low heat.
Nutrition
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Would a cup of half and half and one cup of milk work, instead of 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 1/2 cup milk?
Hi Lyn, you could use half and half, and the hot chocolate will still taste lovely, but it definitely won’t be as thick and rich. I hope this helps!
The taste was very nice and strong but the consistency was more like soup. It was quite difficult to drink. I think there is too much cream in the recipe!
Hi Alberto, glad you were able to enjoy the taste. For consistency, it definitely should not be soupy. It should be thick and creamy. I would heat it a little longer and see if that helps.
It’s… supposed to be that way. You eat it with a spoon. That’s why it’s traditional French hot chocolate and not American hot chocolate from a paper bag.
Yes, you definitely want to eat it with a spoon!
Absolutely delicious. I recently travelled to Prague and was amazed by the hot chocolate there. I decided to find something sweet and rich and amazing to try and recreate it. The hot chocolate I ordered had a little bit of Masala spice added to it, not a lot just maybe half a teaspoon and then an additional 2 teaspoons of masala spice served next to the cup which I added a little at a time. It was unbelievably good. Today, I was out of masala, so I used a tikka spice mix and was just as happy with the results. It doesn’t overwhelm the flavour but adds to it in a wonderful way.
Delish! Thank you Mariette!
Oh my, just made a batch and I have to say it rivals any I’ve had I used Fortunato #4 68% and it was thick and delicious, my wife and sipped a cup and just were left speechless😎
Yay! Makes me so happy to hear you enjoyed it, Randy!
Haven’t made this( hot chocolate)
yet but before I start I got a question. Having a plethora of semi-sweet chocolate could I use that and cut back on the powdered sugar ? Thanks. Mike
Hi Mike, semi-sweet should work. The amount of sugar would be based on how sweet you like your hot chocolate, so that would be up to you. Let me know how it goes if you decide to experiement!
this was so rich and creamy! i used ghirardelli dark chocolate chips and it still worked! the little bit of espresso made the flavour so nice.
So glad to hear, thank you!
The choice of chocolate is questionable. I was hoping the thickness and richness of the cream and whole milk would balance out the bitterness of it, but the drink just ended up tasting mostly bitter despite the extra confectioners sugar. It also did not look like the picture shown, which I’m sure is just a random stock photo. The drink was somewhat thicker than standard hot cocoa, but it was nowhere near as thick as the images on this page imply. Would definitely not make this one again.
Taylor, I’m sorry it didn’t hit the spot. NONE of my photos are stock or AI — I took this photo myself and do regularly make the recipe. It could have cooled a bit in the photo, so maybe that is why it looks thicker? It’s very intense, so if you prefer a sweeter chocolate, I’d try using all or part milk chocolate next time.
This is more like a chocolate truffle drink than the kind of hot chocolate we’re used to in America (I know it’s French!). It’s very thick, and *very* rich. You can’t have more than a few sips (and I love rich things!!). It is delicious! However, if you’re like me and are looking for just a very good cup of hot chocolate that doesn’t taste like Swiss Miss, half the chocolate in this recipe will give you something closer to what you’re looking for. Still very rich! But more drinkable and probably the best cup of hot chocolate you’ve ever had.
Thanks for sharing Donna!
I’ve had thick, decadent hot chocolate in Berlin in the past & hoped this would be similar. It is delicious but waaaaay too thick to *sip.* Even with adding additional milk, it’s more a consistency somewhere between a ganache and a pudding. Too rich & too bitter. (Probably my fault, used Lindt 85% dark.) I used a spoon to lick /eat this but it’s clawingly rich. Will store the rest & see about reheating & adding more milk tomorrow.
Hi Kathy, if the consistency is too thick for you, I would definitely add some more. Hope this helps!
This really nailed the Cafe Angelique recipe from Paris, which I’ve been working to replicate for a couple of decades now. What a delightful, well-researched find. Thank you so so much!!
Ps, I used whole milk Lactaid, which worked just fine, along with a 1/2 cup of heavy cream and 1 tsp of Espresso powder.
So glad you enjoyed it, Maryfran! Thank you!
Tastes good but I was hoping for it to be thicker. This is just the consistency of regular hot chocolate
Glad you enjoyed it, Hannah. It definitely should be thicker than a regular hot chocolate. I would try to let it stay warmer on the stove longer to allow it to thicken more. Hope this helps!