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Chocolate santafereño
Hot chocolate with cheese
Chocolate santafereño: frothy Bogotá hot chocolate with white cheese melted into the cup
Old Bogotá, once Santafé, built an afternoon ritual around hot chocolate. In the café-restaurants of La Candelaria it comes in a big cup, frothed with a wooden molinillo, with a plate of white cheese, almojábanas and buttered bread on the side. The surprise for visitors is the cheese: cubes go straight into the hot chocolate, softening into stretchy strings that are fished out with a spoon, a salty contrast to the sweet, spiced drink. Colombian table chocolate comes in bars already sweetened and often flavoured with cinnamon and clove; dark chocolate plus sugar and spice is a fair swap. The usual cheese, queso campesino or doble crema, is normally set with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian (microbial-rennet) mozzarella-style cheese. Boiling the chocolate hard is the misstep that makes it grainy and scorched; keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: no molinillo? Whisk briskly with a balloon whisk or a milk frother until there's a thick foam.
- Total time
- 15 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- ¾ cup water
- 4 oz Colombian table chocolatechopped; or 90 g dark chocolate plus 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 cloves
- 2 ½ cups whole milk
- 4 oz mozzarella-style white cheesecut into 2 cm cubes; traditionally made with animal rennet; use a vegetarian (microbial-rennet) cheese
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Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Put ¾ cup water, 4 oz Colombian table chocolate, 1 cinnamon stick and 2 cloves in a pan over a medium-low heat and stir for 3 minutes, until the chocolate melts into a smooth paste.
3 minStep 2: Pour in 2 ½ cups whole milk and heat gently, stirring, for 5 minutes, until steaming and just starting to simmer at the edges. Do not let it boil hard.
5 minStep 3: Remove the spices. Froth with a molinillo, whisk or milk frother for 1 minute, until a thick foam covers the top.
1 minStep 4: Divide 4 oz mozzarella-style white cheese between 4 cups, pour the hot chocolate over and serve at once, with spoons to scoop out the melting cheese.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 14 g
- Carbs
- 26 g
- Fat
- 19 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does chocolate santafereño take?
- About 15 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of cinnamon stick?
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon per stick.
- What can I use instead of cloves?
- Ground cloves, ¼ tsp for every 3 whole cloves.
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