Hot Chocolate

This is a variation of a recipe developed by the late Patrick Clark, chef of New York's Tavern on the Green.

Here's the archetypal cocoa, topped with marshmallows and made even better by the addition of bittersweet chocolate.

The flavor of orange  — a natural partner for chocolate  — really comes through in this dessert-like drink. It's topped with sweet whipped cream and can be garnished with orange peel twists and chocolate curls. If you prefer cocoa a little less rich, cut the amount of milk chocolate to seven ounces.

If you don't have a molinillo, the traditional hot chocolate frother, use a blender instead.

Here's a rich version of a favorite warm-up.

This recipe calls for semisweet chocolate; try a Mexican chocolate such as cinnamon-flavored Ibarra from Guadalajara if you can. If using Ibarra, omit the cinnamon sticks and brown sugar.

White chocolate adds a bit of luxury to the steaming brew.

Peppermint schnapps makes this drink a candy cane with a kick, but the liquor can be omitted. Either way, indulge and top the hot chocolate with whipped cream and more crushed peppermint candy.

When the use of chocolate became common in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, chocolaterías opened in Madrid, serving hot chocolate to weary voyagers and the homeless. In Spain, the warming elixir is distinguished by the addition of spice, but especially by its rich, frothy texture, achieved by heating and beating it several times. Traditionally, a wooden hand mill called a molinillo is used, but a whisk works as well.