The ultimate hot chocolate

It's been cold 'round our way. Cold and wet. Leaden skies. Damp grass which never quite seems to dry out. Typical winter weather, really.

When staring at a computer screen waiting for inspiration, what's a girl to do but drink hot chocolate?

I did have a particular inspiration for my hot-chocolate-making extravaganza. This cup.

IT man came back from a trip to the shops with it, two weeks after Mother's Day, looking a bit sheepish, and claiming that it was chosen by our daughter. Not him. Oooooh no! He just paid for it. :-)

Anyway. I'm all for a simple recipe, and this one only has two ingredients; chocolate (I used milk chocolate) and milk. I used Lindt couverture for reasons which will shortly become apparent. But any good quality chocolate would yield a nice cup.

Now if you take a look at this picture, you may at first glance think that my hand is really small. Or that the bag of chocolate is REALLY big.

Unfortunately, it's the latter. I'll just zoom in on the label for you:

Yeah, I'm well aware that no sensible person buys chocolate in bags that big, not least of all because it takes up more than its fair share of space in the pantry. Unfortunately our local wholesale bakery sells these bags at such a reasonable price that they're impossible to pass up. I made about a kilo of gourmet rocky road with it at Christmas time, but I still have lots left - and it ain't getting any younger.

Anyway - back to the hot chocolate. For my taste - sweet and rich, but not overpowering - eight little hexagons is about right for an average sized mug. I know, a whole 2.5kg bag of little chocolate hexagons. Too cute.

Heat your milk until just short of boiling, then pour it into your mug. Or if you're lazy like me, microwave it in the mug.

And if you want to be all fancy and gourmet about it, when you pour the chocolate pieces into the cup, stir until melted with a cinnamon stick like this:

'Cos we all keep cinnamon sticks handy for such occasions, right?

There's always a bit of semi-melted chocolate stuck to the bottom of the mug when you're finished. Scraping with a spoon is permitted (and in my book, obligatory).

Right, so now I only have 800 grams of chocolate left. Ideas, anyone?

And do you have a favourite time-wasting drink or snack to fuel you through your writing benders?