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Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
(Breaking the norm, I have made this post public so that my friends on Twitter without LJ accounts can read this recipe.)

So many people started talking about Starbuck's Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate (SCHC) this fall, that I decided I had to try it for myself, and attempt to recreate the recipe. I have a lot of experience in working with chocolate, and I spent a lot of time working with caramel this calendar year, so it seemed like a great project for my time.

My goal was to create as simple/easy a recipe as possible, one that would be easy to replicate by any of you that want to try. It isn't exactly what you'll find at Starbuck's, but it's very tasty still. A little less sweet, but you can crank it up by adding more caramel. There is a lot of text here, because I added many notes--but this isn't that hard to do yourself!



I had two possible approaches: making a "salted butter caramel sauce", or a "caramel sauce" with the salt added directly the to drink. I went the latter route, as the former has a distinctly different taste, is tricker, and Starbuck's added the salt directly to the drink as well.

Makes 2 8 oz. servings (for more servings, increase the hot chocolate ingredients, but there is no need to make more caramel sauce)

*Hot Chocolate Ingredients:

1/3 cup finely chopped milk chocolate
1/3 cup finely chopped semisweet/dark chocolate
2 cups milk/light cream (I used milk here, but often use a mix for normal hot chocolate)
several pinches of fleur de sel or coarse sea salt
whipped cream

First we'll make the caramel sauce, then the whole drink:

**Caramel Sauce Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar
1 cup water
1 Tbs. light corn syrup
2 cups heavy cream

Equipment:

heavy bottomed sauce pan (one with high sides, you will need them)
candy thermometer (optional, but very helpful)
metal (not plastic) spoon
squirt bottle (optional)

Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a small, heavy saucepan and place over high heat. As soon as the sugar has dissolved, heat your thermometer under hot tap water (to prevent thermal shock) and attach to the side of the pan, making sure that the bulb is completely submerged. Try not to let it rest on the bottom of the pan. Let the mixture sit without stirring at all! It will simply cook for 5-10 minutes.

When the mixture reaches 230 degrees, reduce the heat to medium and allow the sugar to color gradually. As the temperature approaches 300 degrees the color will start to turn to amber (this may happen quickly). At this point, it's safe to swirl the pan gently to help distribute the heat evenly--if you have spots of the sugar mixture that aren't coloring evenly. When the caramel reaches 330-340 degrees, it will reach a deep amber color.

Remove from heat and immediately add the cream. Be careful, as it will bubble up ferociously. You will get sections of hardened caramel, so after the bubbling subsides, return the pot to medium heat and stir gently, until the sauce melts together. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to cool.

Once cooled, you can store the sauce in a squirt bottle (like the generic ketchup bottles in restaurants), or a reguler plastic container. Keeps in the refrigerator for a week, or should be fine in the freezer for a month.


Hot Chocolate

Combine the chocolate and milk in a small pot and heat on medium to simmer. Stir occasionally to combine as the chocolate melts. If you have a Mexican Molinillo, feel free to use it.

In each of two warm mugs, add 1 Tbs of the caramel to the bottom, and swirl/stir it to coat the bottom and sides. Carefully add the hot chocolate to the mugs, and add a generous pinch of sea salt. Top with whipped cream. If you are using the squirt bottle, you can also decorate the whipped cream with a bit more caramel!


*I naturally recommend that you use high quality chocolate here, as it will strongly influence the flavor. If you prefer, you can use all milk or all dark chocolate, but a mix offers an excellent balance. If you have a food processor, you can use it to grind your chocolate (10-15 seconds), which is a lot less work. I keep a tub of ground chocolate ready all the time!

**This makes plenty of sauce. You should be able to cut all the ingredients exactly in half, however this will give you less room for error while cooking the caramel, so I suggest a full batch on your first attempt, if you haven't made caramel before.