We all know that one drink reigns supreme when it comes to fall beverages: the sacred pumpkin spice latte. Pumpkin in general tends to dominate fall flavors, ranging from our sweet treats to our junk food and, of course, to our coffee. But the perfect drink for winter is here to steal the show: You can make red wine hot chocolate in your very home. That's right — you can combine your two favorite drinks in the comfort of your own kitchen. Yes, please!
I mean, let's be real: When the temperature starts to drop, you don't really want to go outside every time you want a warm drink, right? You want to be cozy and nestled into your couch, warm drinks already at hand. The question, usually, is whether you want to relax with some lovely red wine, or if you want something to warm you up, like a nice hot chocolate. Thanks to the fantastic red wine hot chocolate food trend, you don't have to choose.
While a specific red wine hot chocolate recipe from Yeah... Imma Eat That is going pretty viral right now, it's worth pointing out that it isn't a brand new recipe; the website originally posted it almost two years ago, in 2014. What's more, the creation itself has been around for a while, with many others dating back even further. (This one is from 2012.) But that's not necessarily a bad thing; indeed, it means that there are just that many more options for the approach you can take when perfecting your ideal drink at home. Prefer dark chocolate over milk? Easily rectified. Want to use the Malbec your parents gifted you ages ago instead of a cabernet sauvignon? Go for it.
So, what do the basics behind these recipes entail? As detailed by Imma Eat That, it's pretty straight-forward. To make red wine hot chocolate, you combine milk (the recipe suggests 2 percent) and chocolate chips in a saucepan over medium heat. Once you have a thick and creamy pot of chocolatey goodness, add in your red wine and continue to heat it until it's all nice and hot. Done! Imma Eat That's recipe creates two mugs, so you are welcome to share with a friend or partner — or enjoy it all yourself. No judgment.
ImmaEatThat suggests adding some coconut whipped cream on top to finish it off, but you can really customize it any way that you want. For example, if you have a favorite vegan hot chocolate recipe, you can experiment with adding just the right kind of wine to your saucepan. If you want to make it a little spicy, you might add just a hint of chili or cayenne (or both). You can also experiment with the type of red wine you use and see how that changes the flavor and body of your drink.
Basically, the options are limitless, though is as always the case with trial and error, you can probably expect to enjoy some creations more than others. But hey, I'm willing to bet if you're already a chocolate and red wine fan, this recipe is hard to mess up.
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