Hot Chocolate Truffle Balls

Did you know that there is a difference between hot cocoa and hot chocolate?  True to my love of  dropping a knowledge bomb on you, I’m here to tell you there is and they are two very different beverages. 

Hot cocoa comes from a powder, while hot chocolate, also known as  “drinking chocolate” or “sipping chocolate” is made from small shavings or chopped bits of chocolate or tiny chocolate “chips” that are melted (slowly and lovingly) and then blended with milk or cream.  True hot chocolate tends to be much thicker and richer than the powdered version. It’s like liquid velvet- but without all those microscopic prickly velvet “hairs” that fall off if you rub velvet the wrong way and then somehow manage to get stuck in your skin.  In fact, prickly velvet “hairs” would not be a good thing on the tongue or in the throat, so maybe liquid velvet is a bad analogy.  But I digress…

Traditionally hot cocoa is an American thing and Sipping/Drinking Chocolates are a European thing. Sipping chocolate is very rich.  Hot cocoa can be poured into any type of mug because there are no fast hard rules here in the US.  Over in Europe, sipping chocolate is meant to be enjoyed in a smaller cup that is just a tad larger than an espresso cup.

Basic hot cocoa is equivalent to weak, watered down instant coffee.  Sipping/drinking chocolate is equivalent to a rich, concentrated, deep-flavored, almost bitter espresso that just happens to be thick like cream, and in some cases depending on where you purchase it, it could be even thicker- think runny pudding.  Um, now *there’s* an appetizing visual- Oy!  I seriously need to come up with better descriptions.

After my gift of insanely priced, premium chocolate shavings ran out, I needed a more affordable option so I came up with these.  The best part is that I was able to find the SAME brand of chocolate that Williams Sonoma uses for their sipping chocolate and my version costs about $30.00 less!  I know, right?!?- You’re thinking “Shut the front door- $30.00 less?!”  Yes! $30.00 less.
It’s like every little thing I do is magic!

On those cold nights when I’m at home and my teeth are chattering from living in a state that gets below zero for the better part of winter so I’m freezing despite wearing fleece jammies with long underwear underneath and a bathrobe and socks and slippers- (takes a deep breath) I can pop a few of these hot chocolate truffle balls into a mug of hot milk, and thaw myself out!  Do you guys like hot cocoa?  How do you like to drink it?  And don’t say “With my mouth”… smarty pants!