Chocolate de Mesa Recipe
If you grew up in a Latin household, you know the comfort a perfect mug of hot chocolate can bring. Whether it was prepared by your abuelita or your mamá, it was always made by hand and with lots of love.
In our search for the perfect recipe, we stumbled upon this one from Mimi Hernandez at Mountain Rose Herbs in Oregon. It captures the beauty of making your own hot chocolate from scratch, and after trying it with our own cacao nibs, we can attest to its success.
Give it a try and let us know how your Chocolate de Mesa turns out!
Making the Chocolate Discs
Ingredients
4 Tbsp. whole raw almonds (if you prefer to omit the nuts, consider a maca powder or powdered oats)
2 ½ cups Californio Chocolate cacao nibs, roasted
2 4-inch cinnamon sticks
1/2 tsp. nutmeg powder, plus extra for sprinkling
1 cup sugar
1 pinch fine sea salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Warm water
Cinnamon powder for sprinkling
Directions
Lightly roast almonds in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until golden (about four minutes).
Place almonds in a blender or food processor and process until finely ground. Pour into a large bowl and set aside.
Roast cacao nibs in the iron skillet over medium high, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until dark and slightly shiny (about four minutes). Set aside.
Shred cinnamon in blender or food processor until finely powdered.
Add toasted cacao nibs to blender or food processor with cinnamon, and process to a coarse powder, carefully taking breaks to scrape up the bottom and keep the blend stirred. Add to roasted almond meal bowl.
Add nutmeg, sugar, and sea salt to the bowl and mix together. Keep mixing until ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. The mix should be coarse like ground coffee.
Add vanilla extract and tablespoons of warm water one at a time, working the mix with your hands until it becomes moldable. You may need to add up to 3 or 4 tablespoons of warm water.
Once the mix is moldable, pack firmly into shallow, round molds. Use a spatula or flat end of a butter knife to smooth out the top and remove any excess mix until the top is smooth and flush with the mold edges. Alternatively, you can hand-shape the tablets.
Dust the tops with cinnamon and nutmeg powders, and press into the surface.
Use the spatula to score lines into quarter portions onto the surface.
Let the molds rest on a counter for 4 hours so the discs can set. Then use the spatula to carefully work them out of the molds.
Wrap the discs individually in parchment paper. Once they are completely dry and brittle to the touch, seal in a container and store for up to 6 months in the refrigerator.
Making the Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
1 full Chocolate de Mesa disc
6 cups milk or milk alternative
Directions
Crumble an entire disc of Chocolate de Mesa into a saucepan with six cups of milk or milk alternative.
Whisk frequently over medium heat until the disc dissolves completely and the chocolate begins to steam. Let the chocolate and cinnamon flavors steep into the milk as long as possible without scorching or simmering the milk.
Whisk the chocolate until frothy.
Pour into mugs.
Tip! There will be some grit from the nibs and almonds that add texture and flavor. If you prefer a smooth beverage, pour the chocolate into the mug through a strainer.
