Making drinking chocolate at home

Our drinking chocolate is simply 65% chocolate shaved into flakes, with nothing added. That makes it easy to get right at home, as long as you mind the proportions and the heat. One 250 g packet makes about ten cups.

For one thick cup, heat 150 ml of whole milk in a small pan until it steams and small bubbles form around the edge, about 80 °C. Do not let it boil, or a skin forms and the chocolate can taste scorched. Take the pan off the heat and add 25 g of shavings, about two heaped tablespoons. Leave it for thirty seconds, then whisk briskly for a full minute until the surface is glossy and slightly frothy. Return it to a low flame for another minute, whisking, if you like it thicker.

For a lighter cup, use 200 ml of milk, or half milk and half water. For a vegan version, oat milk works best; almond milk can split. A pinch of salt deepens the flavour, and a crushed cardamom pod or a strip of orange peel warmed in the milk is lovely on a rainy evening.

In a Puducherry summer, try it cold. Whisk 25 g of shavings into 60 ml of hot milk until smooth, then add 150 ml of cold milk and pour over ice. Shake it in a jar if you have no whisk. Stored in a closed tin away from heat, the shavings keep for six months.