Vegan red wine hot chocolate is an easy winter warmer to enjoy with a friend, a good book, or your favourite box set
It’s February. The fun and excitement of the holidays is a distant memory but spring is nowhere in sight. Winter drags on, with grey, chilly days and long, cold nights. You need something to bring you both warmth and cheer.
How about a hot chocolate with a mellow red wine edge and a subtle spicy kick? It will raise your spirits while relaxing you and is the perfect companion to an evening curled up under a blanket with a good book.
The success of this drink will depend on the quality of your ingredients, so please choose both your chocolate and your wine carefully. Make sure you like how they taste on their own first. Also, the amount of cacao in your chocolate will affect how much you add. we used a 70% bar, so if your brand has a lower content, you might want to add more to get the flavour intensity you want. If you’re using a bar with a higher content, start off using less than the recommended amount and add more if you want a stronger taste.
This is a recipe you can really play around with. Depending on your own tastes, you can add more or less chocolate, leave out the sugar or add more, and change or eliminate the additional flavourings. You can even change the milk to wine ratio if you like.
Some suggestions for other flavours to experiment are: vanilla, mace, fennel, star anise, ginger, white pepper, allspice.
We’ve done a vegan version of this recipe, but you can substitute regular milk if you want.
Play around with different combinations, and let us know if you come up with one you really like.
Vegan Spicy Red Wine Hot Chocolate
Makes two small or one large servings
Ingredients:
240 ml red wine
240 ml almond milk
30 g dark chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons light brown sugar, or to taste
2 – 3 each strips of orange and lemon zest
3 – 4 black peppercorns
1 stick cinnamon
Pinch cayenne
Pinch nutmeg
Method:
Lightly crush the peppercorns using a mortar and pestle. Place them, the other spices, and the strips of lemon and orange zest in a small saucepan with the wine. Heat on high till just at boiling point, then lower the heat and simmer about 5 minutes.
In another small saucepan, place the chopped chocolate, brown sugar, and almond milk. Heat on medium, whisking constantly until the chocolate and sugar have melted.
Strain the wine mixture into the chocolate mixture and whisk to combine.
Serve hot and enjoy!
