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Festive DIY – Hot Chocolate Stirers

One of my favourite things to make for gifts at Christmas is hot chocolate on sticks. They are so simple to do, but are such a great gift to give because everyone loves hot chocolate don’t they! 
I’ve written about making these before but since then I’ve found a much better recipe that gives a richer, creamier and just generally nicer hot chocolate. I usually just make milk/dark chocolate stirers but this year I thought I’d mix it up a bit and make some white chocolate ones. 
What you’ll need;
  • 600 grams of chocolate – I used 350g of white and 300g of  a mix of dark and milk chocolate. If you’re using white chocolate you’ll need a bit more of it to make the mixture really thick! And you could also just use 600g of one type of chocolate. 
  • 120ml double cream
  • 397g tin of condensed milk (this is just the standard sized tin which makes it easy!)
  • Ice cube tray or brownie pan (I used this Wilton one and an ice cube tray as it makes slightly more than the brownie pan)
  • Lollipop sticks or mini spoons. 
What to do;
As I made white and milk/dark chocolate stirers, I halved the ingredients and did it in two pans – But if you’re doing just one flavour don’t split it.
  1. Half the cream and the condensed milk and add them into a saucepans. In each saucepan mix equal amounts of the milk and cream and whisk them together.
  2. Heat the cream and condensed milk over a low flame until it simmers. Don’t let it boil and mix it regularly so that it doesn’t burn to the pan.
  • I added the vanilla seeds from 3 vanilla pods to the pan the white chocolate mixture was going in because I love white chocolate Magnums and I thought it might be a little like that! 
  • Whilst the milk mixture is heating, break your chocolate into little pieces – if you’re using different types of chocolate make sure to separate them. 
  • When the liquid is simmering take it of the heat. 
  • Add the chocolate bit by bit to the saucepan(s) and mix in until it’s all melted. It’ll start getting quite thick as you add more chocolate. 
  • When all the chocolate has melted spoon it into the brownie pan so each section is full to the top. 
  • If you’re going to embellish them, now is the time. I added a mix of white, dark and milk chocolate swirls to mine but you could stick mini marshmallows maybe, or peppermint sweets crushed up – anything you want maybe?
  • Pop the tray in the fridge for about half an hour to allow the mixture to set a little before adding the spoons. If you add them too early you’ll spend the next hour on spoon watch – I know this from personal experience! 
  • Your stirers should be set after a couple of hours, and if you’re not giving them as gifts right away keep them in the fridge, or the freezer to keep them fresh due to the cream content! They’ll keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge or a few months in the freezer. 
    • To serve; 
    • Add one spoon to a cup of hot milk and stir until the whole block has dissolved. Serve with whipped cream and marshmallows for the full hot chocolate experience. (Or eat straight off the spoon as I caught Jim doing the other day! He claims he just needed a chocolate fix!)
    As you can see the vanilla seeds in the white hot chocolate are really visible and they add something extra that balances out the crazy sweetness that white chocolate tends to have and is really lovely. And the milk and dark chocolate stirers, well they are delicious but isn’t hot chocolate always! 
    You can see more festive DIY posts on the Cotton Traders Christmas Advent Calendar! 

    6 comments

    3. Cheese? Recipes for cheese? No. You just buy cheese and eat it.
      On a serious note, I did buy some make your own cheese from etsy last year, dad and brother loved them!

      Reply

    4. I'll bring you one or two on the 13th 😉 I tried the eating straight off the spoon and they're pretty good! xx

      Reply

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