A chilly Sunday, spent practically the entire day cooking and craving something warm to drink. I remembered this Mexican chocolate I had stashed in the cupboard that I had yet to try. Then I remembered how, as kids, my Mom would prepare a pot full of hot atole. Atole is like a warm, smooth and creamy cereal, mostly milk based and flavored with various ingredients. Cinnamon vanilla and chocolate are the easiest to prepare in a pinch. But there are many flavors available, prepackaged in the stores these days. My favorite will always be the basic flavors made from scratch. For today’s post, I used a spicy chocolate infused with chile guajillo! It was great! I am looking forward to trying some of the other chocolate flavors I have like eggnog, cinnamon and vanilla.
Lucky for me, the Taza brand chocolates can be found in some of the specialty stores during the holidays, but they can also be ordered online. It does have a different and distinct flavor compared to the Abuelita brand.
Nine out of ten times I would be using the most popular brand which is the brand I grew up with, Abuelita brand Mexican chocolate. My friends DeeDee and Kathy gave me a few of the Taza brand to try. This one in particular has chile guajillo mixed in. Both Richard and I love the spicy chocolates that we have tried. So here it is prepared as atole. It was so tasty and I cannot wait to prepare it again!
The Maizena cornstarch was a staple in my Mom’s pantry. As kids, she would often prepare us a simple atole infused with cinnamon and vanilla.
On this day I had fresh baked empanadas de calabaza, most of which I also shipped to my brother in Texas. Good thing, lol! What a great match! And what a treat for us on this chilly Sunday afternoon.
I was having fun with my little vintage elf that my friend Mary gave me just a few days before. You can find this recipe for Empanadas de Calabaza (pumpkin) by clicking onto the picture.
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 cinnamon stick 2 inch piece
- 2.7 to 3 ounces Mexican chocolate for preparing hot chocolate
- 1 cup milk plus 1/4 cup separate
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Maizena cornstarch
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine the water and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, add chocolate and stir until chocolate dissolves.
- in a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch with 1/4 cup of milk until smooth, set aside.
- To the chocolate mix in the 1 cup of milk. Raise heat slightly and stir well to combine. Right before the milk comes toa boil, whisk in the cornstarch slurry, making sure there are no lumps in the slurry. Whisk until smooth into the chocolate. Reduce heat and cook for a few more minutes or until it becomes thick. Serve warm. Yields 4 servings(6 oz.
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