Tag Archives: chocolate

Breakfast Cocoa

One of my favorite things to do this time of year is sit in front of a roaring fire and sip a cup of hot chocolate. I found a few cocoa recipes in my collection, and I thought I’d test one for you. I’m also including a couple of variations that you can try at home. Let me know if you do.

Breakfast Cocoa

This recipe comes from Ruth Wakefield’s Toll House Tried and True Recipes. I have the 1941 edition. You can read more about this cookbook here.

Though not quite as quick as opening a package of hot cocoa and stirring it into milk or water, this recipe is an easy way to whip up a homemade batch of hot cocoa in a hurry. The recipe says it will serve six, but we found we needed to pour small servings. I’d double this if you have several people who would enjoy a mug of this breakfast cocoa.

3 tbsp cocoa

4 tbsp sugar

1/2 c. boiling water

1 1/2 c. boiling water

2 c. hot milk

dash of salt

Mix the cocoa, sugar, and 1/2 c. boiling water to make a smooth paste. Then add 1 1/2 c. boiling water and boil for 3 minutes. Add the salt and 2 c. hot milk. Beat with a Dover egg beater to prevent scum from forming. Serve.

Results

This makes a smooth cocoa drink. It isn’t overly sweet, but it isn’t bitter either. I wish I had doubled the recipe because everyone wanted a second serving.

The first part of the recipe suggests that the consistancey should be more of a paste. Mine was a bit more runny than that, but it still worked well.

The recipe called for using a Dover egg beater to beat the cocoa mixture. I don’t have one so I mixed it well. I like recipes that suggest vintage or vintage-style tools to add to my collection. I try to keep the recipes as close as possible to the originals, but sometimes I need to modernize it a bit to include tools and gadgets that we are more likely to have on hand in today’s kitchens.

South American Chocolate

This is from the same cookbook as the above, but adds coffee to the mix.

7 oz bar Nestle’s Semi-sweet chocolate bar

1 c. strong hot coffee

6 c. scalded milk

Melt the chocolate bar over hot water. Add the coffee slowly. Boil 1 minute. Add to the scalded milk. Beat until thick froth forms on top and then leave it over the water for 10 minutes. You can serve it hot with whipped cream, sweetened and flavored, or you can pour it into tall glasses with ice to enjoy cold. Serves 8.

Hot Chocolate

This recipe is from the 1944 edition of The Good Housekeeping Cook Book. It’s interesting to note that this cookbook also includes a recipe for basic hot cocoa that mentions packaged ready-to-serve cocoa.

2 squares (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate, cut in pieces

1 c. water

speck salt

3 tbsp granulated sugar (1/2 c. corn syrup may be substituted)

3 c. bottled milk OR 1 1/2 c. evaporated milk and 1 1/2 c. water

Place the chocolate and the water in the top of a double boiler over the direct heat and cook while stirring until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Add the salt and sugar. Boil 4 min., stirring constantly. Place over hot water, add milk gradually while stirring constantly, and heat. Beat with an egg beater until light and frothy, then serve. This recipe suggests serving with a marshmallow or whipped cream. Serves 6.

Happy New Year!

Summer Drinks: Frosted Chocolate Soda

Today’s drink is a frothy, creamy frosted chocolate soda. You might experiment with the amount of chocolate syrup in this one. The recipe as it is makes a nice milk chocolate flavor. If you like your drinks more chocolatey, you could add a bit, or a lot, more syrup.

The recipe makes one tall glass of soda. You definitely need a tall glass so you can add all of the ingredients. This is a tasty alternative to a root beer float. The chocolate syrup from yesterday’s post works really well in this drink. In fact, its what the recipe actually calls for. I used ginger ale, but carbonated water can be used in its place.

This recipe is also from The Good Housekeeping Cook Book from 1944. When you’re done with this chocolate soda, you can check out another Summer Drink to help you stay cool.

Frosted Chocolate Soda

2 tbsp Chocolate Syrup

1/2 c. milk

vanilla ice cream

carbonated water or ginger ale

For each serving, beat together the chocolate syrup and milk. Pour this mixture over a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a tall glass. Fill the remaining space in the glass with carbonated water or ginger ale. Enjoy!

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Chocolate Syrup

Tomorrow’s drink calls for chocolate syrup. I thought it might be fun to make my own syrup with a recipe from 1944. It’s in The Good Housekeeping Cook Book in the drinks section, so it’s a recipe specifically for adding to beverages. The cookbook suggests using it for iced cocoa or chocolate, chocolate milk, shakes, and so on. The recipe makes quite a bit of syrup, so make sure you have a large enough storage container. The pictures here are of one small jar of syrup, but there was enough to fill several jars.

The resulting syrup was a little on the runny side, but it mixed smoothly into milk, and would probably be thick enough to use on ice cream. We tested the syrup in different amounts in milk, and it mixed well even when we made the milk extra chocolatey.

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The recipe does offer a couple options when it comes to ingredients. We used cocoa and did not use any corn syrup. I’d love to hear how you use this chocolate syrup.

Chocolate Syrup

1 c. cocoa OR 4 sq. (4 oz) unsweetened chocolate, cut in pieces

3 c. granulated sugar (corn syrup may be used as a substitute for half the sugar–add just before cooling)

1/4 tsp salt

2 c. cold water

3 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the cocoa or chocolate, the sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Stir in the water and cook the mixture over low heat, stirring until it’s thickened and smooth. (The recipe says this will take about 5 minutes, but we cooked ours longer.) You can beat it with an egg beater if needed. Cool slightly, and then add the vanilla. Pour into a glass container and keep in the refrigerator.

 

Baking without…Eggs: Cocoa Cake with Chocolate Glaze

By 1945, rationing and shortages had created challenges for home front housewives. Cooking practices changed due to the lack of ingredients needed for certain recipes or meals. It was difficult for families that were used to eating meat and potato meals to adjust to less appealing cuts of meat and dishes made with ingredient substitutions.

Women’s magazines of the time period often had articles that helped women figure out how to make new wartime meals appealing to their families. In the January 1945 issue of Women’s Day, there is an article called “You Can Bake Without…” and has ideas for recipes made without eggs, sugar, milk, or shortening. As a series, I’m going to make the recipes from each of these categories. This month, I’ll bake without eggs. Next month I’ll bake without sugar, and so on. Join me this week for the egg-free desserts.

Cocoa Cake with Chocolate Glaze

The cocoa cake recipe recommended using a large loaf pan, but we chose to use a bundt pan instead so we could add a glaze. The cocoa cake recipe was from the Woman’s Day article but the glaze was from a period cookbook. A fun tidbit–this cake cost 23 cents to make in 1945.

Addie from Sugar Addie’s baked this cake. She makes more than just wartime food and is an especially talented baker. You can follow her on Instagram: @sugaraddies. Of course, History in the Kitchen is also on Instagram. Come join me at @history.in.the.kitchen.

On to the recipes!

Ingredients

1/2 c. shortening

2 c. brown sugar, firmly packed

1 tsp vanilla

1 c. buttermilk

2 1/2 c. sifted cake flour

1/2 c. cocoa

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c. hot water

Cream the shortening, sugar, and vanilla. Then you add 1/4 cup of the buttermilk and beat well. Then add the sifted dry ingredients, alternating with the water and remaining buttermilk, and mix well. The recipe calls for a greased and buttered 12 x 8 x 2-inch pan, but the bundt pan worked great for us. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

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Chocolate Coating

We thought the cake needed something to top it off, so we looked through my cookbook collection to find the perfect chocolate glaze. This one came from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook‘s 1944 edition. It’s actually a chocolate coating to cover frosting, but it worked perfectly as a glaze for this cocoa cake.

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate

2 tsp butter or margarine

Melt chocolate and butter and blend.  Let the cake cool. Use a spoon to pour the frosting over the cake. The recipe says that this frosting can also be used as a coating for other types of frosting, as well. We used it by itself for this cake.

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Results

The cake was fluffy, bouncy, and moist with a fudgy layer at the bottom. It had a nice milk chocolate flavor, and the frosting was smooth and mild. This was a big hit with everyone who tried it. I liked that the chocolate isn’t too intense. It was pretty quick to throw together, but the bundt cake pan and the chocolate glaze made it attractive enough to take as a potluck dish or to a family get-together.

Looking for part 2 of this series? Here it is: Crumb Cake Part 3 is here: Baking without…Eggs: Prune Cake

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