A little treat to tide you over...

This is the time of year that a hot cup of chocolate topped with marshmallows or better yet...a cloud of whipped cream satisfies my sweet tooth after dinner. I keep cocoa mix on hand and also whipped cream in a can, ready to appease any fireside craving. But my little cup o' cocoa pales after reading about Serendipity Three in New York City. They celebrated their 55th Anniversary by officially breaking the Guinness World Record Monday morning with a four gallon cup of hot chocolate! It took 12 pounds of cocoa powder, 8 quarts of heavy cream and one pound of fine shaved French chocolate to make the giant cup.

The Frozen Hot Chocolate is a must-have at Serendipity, the base is a partially frozen hot chocolate and in the middle of the gigantic parfait bowl is a huge dollop of sweetened, indulgent whipped cream. Top it all with chocolate shavings and let it drip over the edges, and you have a chocoholic's dream. You can order the mix directly from Serendipity's website and make it at home....or you can do what I did and used my favorite recipe search engine, Recipe Puppy!

Frozen Hot Chocolate
3 ounces of your favorite chocolate
2 teaspoons store-bought hot chocolate powder
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups ice cubes
lightly sweetened whipped cream
chocolate shavings
1.Chop chocolate into small pieces and place in top of double boiler over simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted.
2.Add chocolate mix and sugar, stirring constantly until thoroughly blended. Remove from heat and slowly add 1/2 cup milk, stirring until smooth.
3.Cool to room temperature.
4.In blender, place the remaining 1 cup milk, room-temperature chocolate mixture and ice.
5.Blend on high speed until smooth and the consistency of a frozen daiquiri. Pour into a giant goblet and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
6.Enjoy with a spoon or a straw.
Printable Recipe