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Mascarpone Is The Secret Ingredient For Luxurious Hot Chocolate
Rich, creamy, and often topped with a pile of gooey marshmallows, hot chocolate is one seasonal delicacy that warms your bones on a chilly day and doubles as a sweet treat. While there are many secrets to making the best hot chocolate, adding a dollop of mascarpone is one tasty combination that's getting slept on. This ultra-smooth type of cream cheese is best known for lending its buttery flavors to tiramisu, and is a culinary staple in northern Italy where it originated. Compared to normal cream cheese, which is usually thick and tangy, mascarpone's high fat content makes it a slightly sweet, savory addition that can easily melt into many dishes. Italians sometimes add it to their coffee, so it makes a lot of sense that mascarpone can also work its magic when spooned into a warm cup of hot chocolate as well.
There are a couple ways you can upgrade your hot chocolate with the help of mascarpone. Buying some and simply stirring it into your cup is the easiest route you could take, as long as you're aware of this cheese's short shelf life. It works similarly if you were to mix it into other piping hot comfort foods, which is why using mascarpone cheese to thicken brothy soups is a popular hack during soup season. Since it's basically a richer form of whipped cream, you could even make some mascarpone whipped cream and top your hot chocolate with it.
Read more: How To Get More Flavor From Your Coffee Pods & Other Keurig Hacks
wooden spoon scooping homemade mascarpone - Ivannag82/Getty Images
Upgrading favorite decadent hot chocolate recipe with some mascarpone whipped cream is all too easy, and adding other common ingredients along with it can give your wintry drink that tiramisu edge you've been craving. To make it, you'll need to use a hand mixer or whisk together some mascarpone (around ¾ cup) with a cup of heavy whipping cream until you've created soft peaks. You can add some powdered sugar if you've got a sweet tooth, or cocoa powder for a chocolaty twist, but this isn't necessary for your whipped cream to turn out delicious. Some other ideas you could try include adding honey, vanilla or almond extract, or a pinch of sea salt. Your mascarpone whipped cream won't melt away as quickly as whipped cream does; rather, it'll hold a stable shape for a while due to its thickness.
Now all that's left to do is to top your hot chocolate — maybe add a light dusting of cocoa powder if you want it to look extra-fancy — and slowly sip on your newly improved beverage. Be sure to use up all the mascarpone whipped cream you've made relatively soon, or brainstorm other foods you can use it for to use it all up before it goes bad. Mascarpone pairs great with sweet desserts like tarts, pies, and cakes, but can also work well in savory pasta dishes, seasoned eggs, or soups that need a little extra oomph.
Read the original article on Mashed.
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Microwave Your Hot Chocolate With Some Peanut Butter And Thank Us Later
Hot chocolate is an incredibly versatile drink. It tastes great, regardless of whether you're making it from scratch or relying on a handy packet of Swiss Miss powder. On top of that, there are tons of ways to amp up your hot chocolate game. For instance, you can add a candy cane to your mug for a minty holiday twist on the drink. Or, you can simply top it with marshmallows or whipped cream for an equally delicious sip.
Besides some of these more classic hot chocolate recipes you can follow, you can also try adding a scoop of peanut butter to your hot chocolate. Then, pop your hot chocolate in the microwave for a delicious drink that's reminiscent of a melted Reese's peanut butter cup. What could be better? Here's how to make a delicious peanut butter hot chocolate, along with why peanut butter and hot chocolate are such a great combination to begin with.
Read more: The Most Mouth-Watering Dessert Drinks From Around The World
How To Make Peanut Butter Hot Chocolatehand putting a mug in the microwave - carballo/Shutterstock
Making a peanut butter hot chocolate is actually incredibly easy. All you have to do is whip up a batch of your favorite hot chocolate, whether that's using a from-scratch stovetop recipe or just using a quick packet of powder. If you're using a stovetop recipe, once your hot chocolate is just about ready, stir in a spoonful of peanut butter and let it melt into the hot chocolate. With a microwave recipe, you can add the peanut butter to your hot chocolate before putting the mug into the microwave. It's as simple as that!
Either way, the result is a cup of hot cocoa with a deliciously creamy peanut butter twist. You can step up your peanut butter hot chocolate game even more by topping it with whipped cream or marshmallows and a peanut butter sauce drizzle. Just remember that regardless of which recipe you follow, you'll need to use creamy peanut butter instead of chunky. Otherwise, you'll wind up with chunks of peanuts floating in your drink — yuck!
Why Peanut Butter Goes So Well With Hot Chocolatesmear of chocolate next to a smear of peanut butte - Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock
Although adding peanut butter to your hot chocolate isn't as common as making, say, a spiked hot chocolate, this flavor combination is still a match made in heaven. That's because peanut butter and chocolate pair extremely well together in general, and the same rule applies to hot chocolate.
According to The National Peanut Board, "People love the combination of peanuts and chocolate because of something called dynamic sensory contrast or natural affinities." In a nutshell, what this means is that the salty flavor of peanuts contrasts with the sweetness of chocolate in a way that's pleasing to our tastebuds. In fact, this combination is so tasty that even when you've had enough and you're full, your brain can keep telling you to eat more because it tastes so darn good.
If that's not enough evidence to get out there and make a cup of peanut butter hot chocolate, who knows what is? So, next time you go to whip up a standard batch of hot chocolate, try throwing a bit of peanut butter into the mix. You might be surprised at just how good it turns out!
Read the original article on Daily Meal.
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Refreshing Recipe On A Hot Day
The heat wave has been real. I'm not talking about those warm days when you sit in front of the fan and are back in your comfort zone. It's like really hot.
Now, I am thankful for God's perfect wisdom in weather even when it doesn't strike my first fancy; it's just been quite interesting to observe the stark plunge and rise in temp and humidity in a short period.
Last week, I had the long-awaited privilege of visiting my baby brother Jeriah and his family in Tennessee.
The weather was perfect. My parents and siblings (except the brother in far away Alaska) and my family had all traveled by bus and made cherished memories in the process. The sun shone gently with no hint of humidity. We soaked in fellowship and sunshine for a couple of days.
This week, we've had a heat wave, which I can't recall being matched since I was a little girl, and I was next to convinced I won't make it through the hot summer. Panic attacks had weaved their way through that sticky weather.
Oh my, much has changed since then; on a serious note, I have a tender heart for those who deal with panic attacks, regardless of the cause of setting them off. At the time, it didn't feel like I'd ever get through them, but I came through alive and well! Don't give up, and don't be afraid to discuss your dilemma with someone. You'll get through, and it'll be worth it.
Though I had a happy childhood in many ways, I was bogged down with more than expressed at the time;
Maybe I'll get the opportunity to share more later. For now, we'll get back to the heat wave.
So just after midnight last night, our power went off as a result of our battery being drained (thanks to us running the air conditioner too long after dark when the solar panels no longer bring in power).
As the night lights darkened and the fans stopped, the lightning flashed, and thunder rolled. The amazing part to me was opening windows after the initial storm and feeling cool air from the great outdoors- it was a first, after days of high humidity and heat, day and night.
By lunchtime, it was sticky again, and by mid-afternoon, a welcome shower swept over the countryside once more.
"Children, it's cool enough to have hot chocolate again!" I quipped. Smiling, I helped Austin mix goat milk with cocoa, sweetener, and such. Seeing the temp down in the 70s is something to celebrate- not so?
In moments, the children were all out on the new deck and had pulled all the camp chairs together in a tight circle; several even had sheets pulled up and around their chairs for added coziness. I filled mugs, and Julia handed mini candy canes to dip into hot chocolate. The children were all as pleased as could be. It didn't matter to anyone that the candy wasn't all eaten at Christmas; it was 'homemade Christmas in August.'
The children were fascinated by how my candy cane was soon lost in the bottom of my cup for a peppermint effect on the entire mug of hot chocolate. "Mom, may I taste yours?" Little voices echoed one another. "Of course you may try it." Soon, a sticky mug was handed back to me. There will be many years to come with only memories of sticky fingers enjoying a sweet treat and sharing Mom's face.
Now, I don't know what you enjoy eating on hot summer days, and you may even think it seems like an the odd concoction, but before Daniel went to heaven, on those hottest days when he'd come into the house with his shirt drenched in sweat, he wanted nothing more than strawberry or peach soup.
Okay, not hot, though; I know usually soups are hot, and it really shouldn't even be called soup, yet what is it other than a refreshing cold soup on a hot day?
Let's get to it. Daniel liked to have it nice and cold, so I'd chop my frozen fruit, pour milk over it, add some sweetener, then each person pours it over crushed saltine or snack crackers in their bowl.
When I was a girl, we used bread crumbs instead of crackers. I know that doesn't strike everyone's fancy for sure! Here is another version: Try using graham crackers; the sweet graham edge especially blends well with strawberries. Be sure to try it, and I would love to hear how it turned out for you!
REFRESHING PEACH CRASH
2 cups frozen peaches
3 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar*
1 sleeve snack crackers
Chop peaches in a medium bowl, add milk and sweetener.
Mix all together. Crush crackers then have each person place their desired amount of crackers in the bottom of their bowl and ladle peach mixture over it. Stir and enjoy a bowl of peach soup!
*I prefer using natural sweetener.
Gloria Yoder is an Amish mom, writer, and homemaker in rural Illinois. The Yoders travel primarily by horse-drawn buggy and live next to the settlement's one-room school-house. Readers can write to Gloria at 10510 E. 350th Ave., Flat Rock, IL 62427.
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