Chanukah gelt hot chocolate (+ vegan option)

This rich, creamy, indulgent hot chocolate drink is a real Chanukah treat.
Thick and unctuous, it’s made with Chanukah gelt for a delicious chocolate flavour.

I love Costco! Back in September I got really excited to find a giant bag of Chanukah gelt with an OU hechsher, I had to buy it, and now I have a kilo of delicious Belgian chocolate coins to use. I should always have such problems!!

What is Chanukah gelt?

In my grandparents’ day, Chanukah gelt referred to the money that would be given to children as gifts on Chanukah. These days, we tend to give items rather than money, and the Chanukah gelt has transformed itself into chocolate coins.

Hot chocolate is the answer!

Finding myself with rather a lot of chocolate coins, I needed to concoct some deliciously festive way to use them up. My daughter Kipper loves hot chocolate – what kid doesn’t? – so this rich, creamy hot chocolate drink is a real Chanukah treat for her. It’s so thick and unctuous, you can almost eat it with a spoon!

Each mugful uses 4-5 large chocolate Chanukah gelt coins, so if you make it for a crowd you’ll soon get through your stash! Of course, if you haven’t massively overbought on the gelt, you can use squares of regular chocolate, or chocolate chips, and just use one coin per cup for decoration.

Festive spirit?

Maybe it was the delicious Belgian chocolate, maybe it’s the festive spirit, but this was the best hot chocolate I’ve ever made, and about a million times better than ‘instant’ hot chocolate from powder. And speaking of festive ‘spirit’, DH likes to add a dram of whisky to his! Strictly for the adults, that one.

Dairy-free and delicious

It’s completely possible to make this indulgent hot chocolate without any dairy ingredients. In fact the delicious-looking, cream-topped mugful in the photos is actually completely vegan! I made it for myself, using oat milk, dark chocolate, and whipped coconut cream. So if you’re avoiding dairy for any reason you can still enjoy this festive chocolate treat. What are you waiting for?!

The recipe below makes 1 mugful, but is easily scaled up.

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Chanukah gelt hot chocolate

Course Drinks

Cuisine American, jewish

Keyword chocolate

Servings 1

Author Helen

Ingredients

• 250 ml milk or dairy-free alternative (1 generous cup)
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 3 large chocolate coins (or about 15g chocolate)
• Whipped cream or whipped coconut cream (optiona)
• Extra chocolate coins for decoration (optional)

Instructions

• Pour almost all of the milk - save about 1 tbsp - into a pan and heat gently over a low flame.
• In a jug, mix the reserved milk with the cocoa powder and cornflour to give a smooth paste.
• Once the milk is just coming to the boil, pour it over the cocoa/cornflour/milk mixture, stirring continuously. Mix well, and return the mixture to the pan.
• Remove the foil from the 3 chocolate coins, and place in the jug. Heat the milk mixture in the pan over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to the boil and thickens slightly. Pour the hot liquid over the chocolate in the jug and leave to stand for a minute or two.
• Whisk the melted chocolate coins into the hot liquid and pour into a mug.
• If liked, top with whipped cream and decorate with a chocolate coin. Enjoy!

Other wonderful winter warming drinks for Chanukah include this hot mulled apple juice with little fruit dreidels, this creamy sahlab, and this lovely festive spiced tea blend which also makes a lovely homemade Chanukah gift. 

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