I welcome having this Strawberry White Hot Chocolate Drink anytime of the year. This hot chocolate uses white chocolate instead regular dark or semi sweet chocolate, and it was flavored by pure homemade Strawberry Paste. A nice touch of Strawberry flavor to perkup your day.

Is it cold where you are right now? or maybe hot? We are in the middle of Spring here in British Columbia, Canada. The weather is not yet too hot, in fact, it was lovely. A little chilly in the morning and evening, some sunny days and fewer rainy days. So at least weather wise, hot chocolate is still welcome, even more this Strawberry White Hot Chocolate. Aside from the chilly weather, what prompted me to make this was finding a bottle of my pureed Strawberry still in my refrigerator. I love making puree Strawberry paste when I want to flavor something with a hint of Strawberry flavor. I said hint because it is not going to be a strong Strawberry flavor because there is no other additives or artificial flovor added in it. Taste just like eating fresh Strawberry, but a bit milder because it has been dilited in milk.

Homemade Strawberry Puree

I used my homemade Strawberry paste to flavor this white hot chocolate. This 1 ingredient Strawberry Paste is the BEST option for all natural Strawberry flavoring. It is super easy and simple to make, after all it is just 1 ingredient, how hard could that be. 1 Ingredient, 2 steps that is all to it.  It’s thick, its REAL and can be used for flavoring cake, cupcake, frosting smoothie and hot chocolate. You will never go back to artificial flavoring once you try this. Watch how I made this, its super easy.

Can I use fresh Strawberry instead?

Yes you can. It will be a bit more runny becuase uncooked pureed Strawberry is almost like a juice, but it will work as well. You might need to adjust the measurement. I haven’t tried it myself so I cannot give the measurement.

Use Good Quality Chocolate

The quality of a good hot chocolate depends on the quality of the chocolate you use. Find something that you enjoy eating on its own. Something plain and pure. No nuts or any add on. I would recommend finding a good melting chocolate, the waffers or bars that you can chopped into small pieces this way it melts faster. I would not recommend using chocolate chips as chocolate chips have stabilizer. Meaning they are made to stand heat, so they melt quite slow. This is why they are a favorite to add on cookies. They retain their shape even when bake in high temperature.

What kind of chocolate is suitable for making homemade Hot Chocolate

You’re going to love this, you have choices when it comes to what type of chocolate to use, but since we are making white hot chocolate, so your choice will have to be white chocolate. If you are craving for a decadent dark hot chocolate, check out my featured posts at the end of this post.

• Dark Chocolate – this had 70% and above cocoa content. Almost in between being bitter and almost too bitter. You might need to add sweetener if you choose this time of chocolate. 
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate or Milk Chocolate – this have 60% cocoa content, for me a good compromise of getting the right sweetness and a good chocolate flavor. Depending on how sweet the chocolate you use, you may keep may not need to add sweetener in the hot chocolate. 
• Unsweetened – this is very dark and bitter and I wouldn’t recommend using this on its own. Even with a sweetener, this is still quite bitter. What you can do it to mix it with semi sweet chocolate, but do not use it in its own.
• White Chocolate – definitely sweeter, less bitter than dark and semi sweet chocolate. It has higher amount of milk solids and sugar. You probably won’t need to add any sweetener if you use this one, unless you really want your hot chocolate to be extra sweet. 
• Cocoa Powder – This is probably the most common homemade hot chocolate that compares to off the shelf hot chocolate mix. It’s usually unsweetened so you definitely have to add sweeter (normally sugar) when you use this. The good thing about using cocoa powder, you can easily make a huge batch of hot chocolate mix by just mixing it with sugar and salt. store it in a can and Just like that and you have a ready to use hot chocolate mix. 

The Sweetener

To sweeten the drink, I used granulated sugar. You can also use honey, maple syrup, agave or plant based sweetener. Please note that the measurement will vary depending on what sweetener you used. Adjust accordingly

Bars, Chips, Wafers or Powder?

• Bars – This is my first go to option when making hot chocolate. For me, nothing beats using a chopped chocolate. It not only melts faster, it also gives a better consistency when melted. Find a good quality chocolate, one that you can eat on its own. The key to a great hot chocolate is a great quality chocolate so do not settle for anything less.
• Chocolate Chips – although an option, I wouldn’t recommend using chocolate chips to make hot chocolate. Chocolate chips have stabilizers to help it retain its shape when bake. This is why the first choice in making chocolate chips cookies, they retain their shape even after baking in high temperature. Because chocolate chips uses stabilizers, it somehow compromise the flavor and it gives a waxy texture. Having said this, chocolate chips when use in hot chocolate does not melt as easily,you have to use a really hot milk to melt it.
• Wafers – this looks like coins, they are small disk shaped pieces of chocolate. It’s is better than chocolate chips because it does not contain stabilizers and so they melt beautifully.
• Cocoa Powder – usually unsweetened, it comes in either Natural or Dutch Processed (low acidity, darker color). Either one will work since we are not doing any baking here. Dutch Process will give a deeper dark color as opposed to Natural with lighter brown color.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Fresh Milk
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream  
• 2 – 3 tablespoon granulated Sugar (or any sweetener of your choice)
• 1/3 cup Strawberry Puree
• 1/4 cup Whipped Cream (optional but highly recommended)

Instructions:

1. Make the Strawberry Puree: You can make this ahead of time, even months. Keep it in an airtight container and freeze it. When ready to use, take it out in the refrigerator to thaw overnight. Of just make it few days ahead or overnight and use it the following day. get the full recipe of 1 Ingredient Strawberry Puree and watch the video
2. Make the Hot Chocolate: Start by chopping the chocolate. Chop the chocolate as fine as possible for easy melting. If you are making a large batch, you can use a food chopper or simply use a sharp knife. Do not store the chocolate in the refrigerator if you plan to use it for making hot chocolate. Chocolate stored at room temperature is easier to chop, and it will melts faster too.
3. Heat the milk. Pour the milk in the pan, and simmer the milk in medium heat. Once the meat is hot enough, you should see steam coming out of the pan, and some bubbles showing on the side of the pan as well. Do not get it to the boiling stage.
4. Add the chopped chocolate then stir until fully melted. You can also pass the hot chocolate in a sieve if you want to make sure it is lump free and smooth.
5. Taste then add sugar as needed. Be careful in adding sugar especially when using milk chocolate. It is always safe to add it at the end and adjust as needed.
6. Add the Strawberry Puree: Add the Strawberry puree and stir.

Serves 2

My Latest Video

Featured Posts:

• Guide to Making Homemade Hot Chocolate
• Beetroot Hot Chocolate
• Red Velvet Hot Chocolate
• Overnight Peach Oats Drink
• Blueberry Yogurt Oat Drink
• Raspberry Oats Drink
• Smore’s Oat Drink
• Dalgona Coffee
• Red Velvet Hot Chocolate
• Matcha Coconut Hot Chocolate

Thank You for visiting my website. Please don’t forget to click the “Like” button below if you like this recipe. Lastly, did you know that I have a YouTube Channel? Please support my channel by clicking on the “Subscribe” button in my video and the “Bell” icon to get notification of new videos.

FOLLOW SWEETNSPICYLIVING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube