25 Days of Christmas Cocktails - El Dorado Hot Chocolate

The weather has turned in Northern Alabama, and it finally feels like Christmas!!  What better way to celebrate that than with a little Hot Chocolate and to spice it up, how about a little cinnamon?  Goldschlager is my preference for cinnamon flavored liqueur, but whatever you have in the liquor cabinent will suffice.  From Food Network Kitchens, serves 4. 

•        3/4 cup sugar
•        1/4 cup water, plus 2 tablespoons
•        8 ounces finely chopped semisweet or milk chocolate
•        6 cups milk
•        6 ounce cinnamon flavored liqueur
•        3 ounce golden rum

Stir the sugar and 2 tablespoons of the water together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat. Uncover and continue to cook, swirling the pan but not stirring, until the sugar is a dark golden caramel, 7 to 10 minutes. (It should smell slightly burnt.) Pull pan from the heat and carefully pour the 1/4 cup water into the caramel. Take care; it may spatter a lot. Whisk until smooth and allow to cool. (The burnt caramel can be held for up to 2 weeks at room temperature.)

 

When ready to serve: Put 3 tablespoons of the burnt caramel into 4 mugs or cups and top evenly with the chopped chocolate. Bring the milk to a simmer in a medium pan over medium heat. Pull pan from the heat and add the Goldschlager and rum; pour over the chocolate. Serve El Dorado Hot Chocolates with a spoon to stir the layers together.

Cook's Note: Goldschlager is a cinnamon flavored liqueur with small flecks of edible gold.