THE DUKE’S HOT CHOCOLATE
- 1½ teaspoons ground allspice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or the seeds scraped from the inside of a whole vanilla bean)
- Generous pinch of salt
- ⅛ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper (optional)
- ½ cup sugar, or to taste
- Fine-grated zest of 1 large orange
- 3 cups water; or half water, half milk; or half water, half cream 10.5 to 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (Lindt Excellence 70%, Valrhona 71%, Scharffen Berger 70%, or Ghirardelli 70% Extra Bittersweet, in our order of
- preference), broken up
Instructions:
This hot chocolate has a pedigree. It dates from 1632, when the court cook to Bologna’s ruling family, the Bentivoglio dukes, made it the fashion of the day.
- In a 3-quart saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the chocolate. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Pull the pan off the heat, and let it sit for a few minutes. Then whisk in the chocolate until smooth. Taste the hot chocolate for sweetness and allspice. Serve hot.