Host a festive hot chocolate bar at your next winter party and give the guests a delicious drink to remember with a fun assortment of sweet treats to choose from.
Choose a variety of chocolates, add-ins and toppings and let partygoers customize their drinks according to their favorite flavors: spicy dark chocolate, milk chocolate covered cherry or peppermint white mocha.
Prep: You will need enough mugs for all of your guests, plus metal carafes for the hot chocolate and bowls of assorted sizes for all the add-ins. Arrange everything on a silver tray and be sure to keep the cocoa hot and flowing all night long.
Hot Chocolate: Start with a pitcher of your favorite hot chocolate recipe: dark, milk or white chocolate. Metal carafes will work best to keep the chocolate nice and warm.
Spirits: Please the adults at the party with an assortment of liquors and liqueurs to perk up the hot chocolate and give it a kick.
- Amaretto: This almond-flavored liqueur has a sweet cherry taste that turns a regular cup of hot cocoa into a drinkable chocolate-covered cherry.
- Cognac: A traditional French brandy, cognac adds a touch of class to hot chocolate and increases the belly-warming quotient by a factor of ten, and since you’re mixing it, a less-expensive brand will do.
- Peppermint Schnapps: Add a mint touch to your chocolate with this sweet peppermint liqueur for a peppermint mocha.
- Goldschläger: If you prefer cinnamon to peppermint, this Swiss schnapps delivers the flavor with glamorous flakes of gold.
Toppings: Hot chocolate is always best when topped with white fluff!
- Marshmallows: Put out bowls of small or large marshmallows, and if you are serving white chocolate to drink, chocolate marshmallows are a nice touch. For a really special treat, make homemade marshmallows and serve them in small cubes.
- Whipped Cream: Reddi-wip is easy and fun to squirt, always a favorite with the kids – but real whipped cream has a thick flavor that you can dollop with delight. Just whip organic heavy cream until it reaches your desired thickness; serve it unsweetened or mix in sugar for a sweet treat – or do both!
Stir sticks: Skip the spoons in favor of these pretty stir sticks!
- Peppermint Sticks: Tall, straight swizzle sticks in red and white swirls make for suck-able stir sticks; choose them in flavors of peppermint, cinnamon or chocolate.
- Cinnamon Sticks: Actually a piece of bark, this natural spiraled stick imparts a heady, spicy flavor to your drinks.
Final Touches: Like the cherry on top, these final touches will add a final festive flavor to each unique cup of chocolate. Serve them in small bowls with tiny spoons, or just let your guests grab a pinch.
- Cayenne: Kick up your chocolate with cayenne pepper, which will add a spicy taste to your hot cocoa and will kick up your immune system too!
- Chocolate shavings: Use a vegetable peeler to create curly shavings from your favorite chocolate bar for a pretty topper that will melt slowly as you sip.
- Cinnamon & Nutmeg: Served separately or together, these warming spices will add a layer of depth to your favorite hot chocolate.
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