One sip of Italian hot chocolate - Cioccolata Calda - and you will be having a MOMENT. The world will slip away as you indulge in this thick, rich, dark, liquid velvet in a cup. (Skip to recipe.)
Italy is so easy to fall in love with.
We are back from three glorious weeks of eating our way around that wonderful country, and I don't even know where to start describing the adventure. We arrived in Rome and had four nights there to explore the city.
After Rome, we rented a car and drove to Sorrento where we spent another four nights exploring Naples, Pompeii, and surrounding area, then headed off down the spectaular winding road of the Amalfi coast.
My new friends, below, are kinda quiet (at the ruins of Pompeii)
We did a loop inland to see several small towns in the 'heel' of the Italian boot, circling to the 'toe' of the boot and taking the ferry to Sicily.
We explored Sicily for a week, then headed back up the coast for a last lovely couple days in Rome.
Large cacti grew everywhere, on roadsides and in huge agricultural groves, producing sweet cactus fruits (full of prickles if you tried to pick the roadside ones - ask me how I know!)
Heartfelt thanks to our Italian friends, Nicoletta and Loreto, who write the lovely blog SugarLoveSpices, for giving us many useful tips on what to see in Rome and Naples. Rosciola was a favourite stop (had the amazing pizza there twice!).
Besides fantastic fresh food, there were two things to be seen everywhere in Italy:
cats:
and motorcyles or scooters:
Our adventure ended with us on the express train to the airport at the exact time the devastating earthquake hit Italy, just an hour and a half out of Rome on Sunday morning. I only realized later that the bout of dizziness I had felt on the train was not just exhaustion and train jiggle, but the residual tremors that even cracked some ancient buildings in Rome, in addition to the tragic damage to several hilltowns in central Italy.
We saw and did so much on our trip, that I have just given an overview (tried to keep it short, but wasn't successful) in this post and will break our trip into smaller chunks to share separate parts of it in later posts. But to put it all into context, I need to tell you about my other love affair - the one with Cioccolata Calda (not a tall, dark, handsome Italian guy, but a deep, dark, rich Italian drink).
The day we arrived in Rome, bleary and exhausted from a day of travel and the night before with little sleep, it was raining. I dozed on the half hour ride in the shuttle from the airport to Termini Station, my head banging against the window. I remember opening my eyes once and looking through the rivulets of rain running down the glass to see the Colosseum as we stopped at a traffic light, but sleep sucked me back in.
Termini Station is the main station in Rome where all buses, trains, and subways converge - a massive building spanning several city blocks and teaming with shops, people, and activity 24 hours a day. We lugged our bags across the street to check in at the hostel where we'd booked a room for our Roman stay (graffiti on the outer door and garbage bins inside the entrance courtyard not exactly welcoming in our bedraggled state, but a traipse up the worn marble stairs produced a double room with domed, painted ceiling, spare but clean furnishings, and updated private bath). We dropped off our luggage and headed back to the station to get our bearings for traveling the city and to purchase Roma Passes and Sim cards for our electronics.
Even though it was late afternoon (and the middle of the night to our internal clocks) we needed a jolt of something to stay awake. I knew if I had a coffee I'd have trouble sleeping later on, so I ordered a hot chocolate - something I don't normally care for that much, but I was chilled and tired and it was still raining out.
One sip of that thick, velvety molten chocolate decadence and I sat up straighter. This tasted nothing like the hot chocolate mix we stirred up with hot water at home. It was as if someone had melted a luxuriously rich bar of dark chocolate into a cup, and it was served with a spoon, which you needed - to scrape every last bit of that thick comforting nectar from the bottom of the cup.
Thus began my quest for more of this addictive indulgence. Our first trip to Italy eight years ago, we had a gelato every day. Well this trip, it was a Cioccolata Calda every day for me (and sometimes even twice a day). Our morning stop for cioccolata and a pastry became an anticipated routine, even on the hot days, but especially welcome on the handful of rainy days we encountered. I found the cioccolatas weren't all the same as that first one in Termini Station. I had cioccolatas that were much sweeter and had more of a milk chocolate base (still delicious), and some that were as thick as chocolate pudding, so I learned to ask for extra hot water (agua calda) on the side. Some cioccolatas had tiny bits of ground hazelnuts or pistachios in them. But all were the same deep delicious chocolate drink and all were memorable.
I brought a couple mixes home to try, but have been experimenting this week to make a drink that is the same as the best ones I had in Italy. Cocoa powder alone didn't do it. Melting in some good quality dark chocolate provided that last little touch to produce the intensely chocolaty bliss-in-a-cup I found in Italy.
So I make myself a cup, cradle its warmth in my hands, take a velvety sip and close my eyes, reliving all those wonderful Italian memories.
I know what I'll be doing often this winter when the snow outside makes me long for a dose of liquid Italian sunshine.
* * * * *
Kitchen Frau Notes: I love using dark chocolate (like Lindt 70%) in my Italian Hot Chocolate, but you could substitute a good quality milk chocolate to make a milder drink that would be just as delicious, and might be more popular with kids or milk chocolate lovers.
*40 grams of chocolate is equivalent to four squares of chocolate if your 100-gram/3.5-oz. bar is divided into 10 sections, or five squares if it is divided into 12. If using chocolate chips, 40 grams is a scant ¼ cup.
Italian Hot Chocolate (Cioccolata Calda)
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons natural evaporated cane sugar or granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- pinch of salt (as much as you can pick up between your thumb and forefinger)
- 1¼ cups (300gms) milk, divided
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 40 grams good quality dark chocolate (70% cacao) *see notes above
In a small saucepan, whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) of the milk, one tablespoon at a time, to make a smooth paste. Add the rest of the milk, the vanilla, and the chocolate (broken into smaller pieces).
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes just to a boil.
Pour into small cups and serve immediately. Provide sugar if guests would like to add some to taste, though I find it just sweet enough as is.
Close your eyes and pretend you are in a small café in Italy.
Serves 2.
Guten Appetit!
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Jeanette
Lovely thank you for posting.
Margaret
It was such a fantastic trip, Jeanette - especially for a food lover. I ate my way around Italy (and have the souvenir around my waist to prove it!) So many wonderful memories, though.
Judith
Absolutely fantastic! I can almost smell it.
Margaret
And taste it . . . and hear it . . . and feel it . . . Italy is such a feast for all the senses. We had so many amazing experiences! I tried to keep the pictures to a minimum, and still only included a fraction of what we did and saw.
Sabine macleod
WOW. The pictures are outstanding! Can't wait to hear more face to face.
Thanks
Hugs
Sabine
Margaret
Thanks so much. Can't wait to share stories over a glass (or three) of wine! XOXO
Tammy
Thank you for sharing! Looks like a great trip and adventure. And great research project on hot chocolate :0) Can't wait to hear more!
Margaret
Yes, it was grueling research 😉 , but all in the name of food science! It's hard to come back home to everyday reality, but a cup of that hot chocolate brings it back, if even for a short while. The food in Italy is so fantastic - fresh and simple. It was a dream trip.
Elsa
Wow Margaret what a great trip you had. The pictures are beautiful and the hot chocolate looks so delicious . Sheena and Nickie had hot chocolate in Barcelona that looked just like it . We have to make it this weekend .
Thank you Margaret !
Margaret
Thanks, Elsa. When I look at the pictures myself, I can't even believe all the things we did in three weeks. Every day was filled with wonderful little adventures. Great memories to pull out on days when I feel like I need to do some armchair traveling 🙂 Hope the chocolate is like the girls remember it!
Deborah Ross
Oh my goodness, I enjoyed your post immensely! By the time I reached the end I had forgotten all aggravations and felt as if I'd been on vacation. A...n...d then, because my mouth was watering, I had to immediately make Cioccolata Calda with my 90% dark Lindt, which is all I currently have in the cupboard. I had to add just a touch more sugar but I am in heaven...er well I was, but I'm pretty sure I will attain Nirvana again today, actually maybe in about another hour. Thank you, so much, for the recipe and sharing your amazing vacation with us, my day has been made!
Ciao!
Margaret
I love the mental picture of a kindred spirit across the country sitting and blissfully sipping an Italian hot chocolate with eyes closed just like I am. So glad to hear it gives you the same heavenly lift. There's something about chocolate, isn't there? And then when you have it hot and melty and velvety - no words describe it. Wishing you lots more chocolate moments!
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices
It is always fascinating to see my country, and mostly, my city, through the eyes of a tourist! I loved every word and picture you used to describe your vacation. And it's all so true! You're welcome about the tips, glad you enjoyed Rome and pizza, and cioccolata calda. I remember telling Loreto one of the first years I arrived here and ordered a hot chocolate, that that liquid brown drink wasn't a hot chocolate at all! So happy you can now recreate it in the comfort of your house, and us with you!
Margaret
Oh, Nicoletta, I think you are so lucky to come from that wonderful city - and that your childhood memories are all set against the backdrop of such magnificent beauty and history. Our country is so young in comparison, that we have few buildings that have such stories to tell. We absolutely loved our time in Italy (and ate our share of pizza, pasta, and pastries for sure!) Every time I make myself a cup of cioccolata calda I will be back in my mind, sitting in a cafe somewhere in Rome or another part of Italy (I don't think I'll be able to drink any other kind of hot chocolate again.)
Linda
Looks like you had a fabulous trip Margaret! We just got back from three glorious weeks in Italy as well and I am sad to say that I never experienced your wonderful hot chocolate. The good news is I will definitely be making it with your recipe! Thanks so much for sharing! Isn't it so amazing how foods and drinks can evoke such wonderful memories and bring you right back to the splendour of your imagination, as if you were there again!!
Margaret
You are so right, Linda. One sip of that chocolate and I'm back there. I don't think we'd have discovered the hot chocolate if it hadn't been cold and rainy that first day we arrived in Rome. We did find better weather - it was actually really hot in Sicily - but by then the chocolate urges had firmly settled themselves into my brain. I'd love to share stories and hear about your trip some time, too. I feel so lucky to have had the chance to travel around that beautiful country - such a wonderful trip and I'm sure the memories will help get us through the winter ahead 🙂
Elsa
Margaret we all had a family hot chocolate moment on Friday night with the girls and Jordan, so good amazing!! Thank you for sharing .
Margaret
That sounds like such a cozy family thing to do on these colder evenings. Glad you enjoyed the Cioccolata Calda. Chocolate always wins the day, doesn't it?
Dale Abendroth
Fabulous photos and commentary Margaret...you've planted the seed! Can't wait to try your recipe.
Margaret
Thanks so much, Dale! Italy is an amazing place to visit - I could go back again and again. Still so many corners to explore. And the food . . . no words to describe it! Thanks for stopping by . . . so nice to hear from you.