Champurrado - Thick Mexican Hot Chocolate

Champurrado is a thick, Mexican hot chocolate based on masa harinaand water or milk. In my family, this drink is usually served during winter or Christmas, and it is especially good when you serve it along with sweet tamales. Champurrado is similar to atole, which is a corn starch based hot drink. Nowadays, one can buy instant mix for champurrado at your favorite Latin grocery store, but if you have time to make it, give it a try. You may need an acquired taste for this hot chocolate because it's quite thick and not overly chocolaty, but gawd it is good on a cold winter's night!

INGREDIENTS (serves 4 - 6)

• ½ cup masa flour (Maseca, for example)
• 2 ½ cups cold water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 ½ cups milk
• 1 disk Mexican chocolate (Ibarra, for example)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar plus 2 teaspoons molasses

DIRECTIONS

Place 1/4 cup cold water and the masa harina into the jar of a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a large sized saucepan. Add the remaining 2 1/4 cups cold water, cinnamon stick and vanilla. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, until mixture has thickened.

Add the milk, chocolate, sugar and molasses. Bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking until the chocolate and sugar is melted and well-blended. Remove the cinnamon stick and strain the mixture through a medium sieve (optional) and serve hot in mugs. We usually don't strain the champurrado because we like it thick and rich!

Homemade Ginger Ale

My husband has been on a Ginger Ale kick lately but after I saw how much money he was spending on the soda, I decided to make homemade ginger ale. This version is quite simple to make and to make it even yummier, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a tasty Ginger Ale Float!

INGREDIENTS (4 servings)

• 2 cups ginger slices, peeled (1/8 inch thick)
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1 quart soda water
• 1 lime cut in wedges
• 4 mint sprigs

Mix ginger, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a slow simmer. Reduce mixture by 50 percent until a syrupy consistency is reached. Keep in mind that the syrup will thicken as it cools. Strain warm syrup. Allow to cool.

In a tall glass of ice, add mint sprig and a ratio of 1 part ginger syrup to 6 parts soda water. Squeeze lime wedge and add to drink. Use more syrup if desired. Stir and enjoy.

Easy Atole (Mexican Hot Drink)

During Christmastime, Mexican families everywhere enjoy homemade atole, a cornstarch-based Mexican hot chocolate drink, also known as champurrado. One of my tias still likes to make her atole from scratch but I learned from my grandmother that one can make super easy atole (AH-toh-lay) from a package: Maizena.

You can find Maizena in most grocery stores now. Maizena is a brand of Mexican cornstarch. You want to buy the flavored cornstarch which comes in 1.59 oz packages. They have all kinds of flavors from vanilla to strawberry, chocolate to cinnamon. For this recipe, though, you will need the chocolate flavored maizena. You will also need cold water, whole or 2% milk, sugar and cinnamon sticks, and follow the directions on the package.

First, mix the package contents with cold water. DO NOT mix it with hot water. This mixture is called a slurry.

Cornstarch + Cold Water = Slurry

In a large sauce pot, slowly bring milk to a boil. Stir frequently so that you do not burn the milk. Once the milk is hot enough pour the slurry (the maizena and cold water) mixture and stir with a wire whisk.

Add sugar to taste and keep stirring with the wire whisk until it gets to a slightly thick consistency and a glossy finish. Serve immediately with a few cinnamon sticks for decoration.

We like to drink our atole super hot and with a side of sweet tamales. YUMMY!

Pictures courtesy of cookingmadesimple.net