Cocoa on a Stick

http://www.theurbanbaker.com/a-happy-a-merry/
Hot Cocoa on a Stick
adapted from here
yield: 3 dozen cubes

ingredients:
4 oz. heavy cream
14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
18 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
a few drops of flavoring (optional – i used baileys, yet peppermint would be delish)
homemade marshmallows (see below)

instructions:
• line an 8×8″ pan with parchment or aluminum non-stick foil
• heat cream and condensed milk over low heat until steaming. remove from pan and add chopped chocolate. after 2 minutes, stir. let sit for 10 minutes.
• return to the heat and whisk vigorously until the mixture is thick and shiny. if using flavoring or oil, add now.
• pour the chocolate into the pan and shake gently to level. dust with cocoa. set aside overnight to settle.
• with a hot knife, cut into 1 1/4″ cubes. put a marshmallow on top and insert a stick into the center.
• if giving as a gift, wrap the bottom in parchment and then store in individual bags. store the left overs, separately in air tight containers.
• the ganache can store indefinitely.

Homemade Marshmallows
adapted from Martha Stewart
yield: 48 marshmallows
ingredients:
3 tablespoons + 1 1/2 tsp. unflavored gelatin
3 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
sifted powdered sugar

instructions:
• spray a 9 x 13″ baking dish with cooking spray. line with parchment allowing for some overhang. spray the parchment. set aside
• put sugar, corn syrup, salt, 3/4 cups water in a heavy duty saucepan. bring to a boil over high heat. stirring to dissolve the sugar. cook without stirring, until mixture registers 238* on a candy thermometer.
•while that is cooking, put 3/4 cup cold water into the bowl of your electric mixer and sprinkle with the gelatin. soften for 5 minutes.
• using the whisk attachment on your blender, turn on low speed and gradually add your hot syrup. start on slow speed and once combined, increase the speed to ultimately the highest speed. The mixture should be very stiff, mix for about 15 minutes. Beat in vanilla to combine.
• pour into prepared dish and smooth with an off set spatula.
• set aside, uncovered for about 3 hours or overnight
• sift 1 cup of powdered sugar in a jelly roll pan. cut marshmallows with a well oiled knife. i like my marshmallows 1″ squared. roll the cut marshmallows in the powdered sugar. if you need more sugar, sift more into the pan.
• store in a container for 3 days or freeze for 2 months.

http://www.makeandtakes.com/hot-chocolate-on-a-stick

Following this marshmallow recipe and using the King Arthur recipe , here's the recipe for marshmallows used.

For planning purposes you should know that the marshmallows have to sit for at least 4 hours before cutting, and the chocolate blocks have to sit for about 12 hours before cutting.

Hot Chocolate Blocks
From King Arthur Flour

1/2 cup heavy cream
One 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped or in chips (Jane note: I actually used 1 cup 60% cacao chips, 1 cup semi-sweet chips, and 1 cup milk chocolate chips)
One 4-oz bar unsweetened chocolate (broken or chopped into smaller pieces)
Wooden or cookie/lollipop sticks
8″x8″ pan, lined with parchment paper

Heat the cream and sweetened condensed milk over medium-low heat until it starts steaming, stirring periodically. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes, then put back on medium-low heat and stir with a whisk until chocolate is completely melted and shiny. (At this point you could add some flavoring…vanilla, hazelnut, peppermint, whatever fits your fancy!)

Pour chocolate into prepared pan and spread chocolate as level as you possibly can. Let sit overnight (12 hours or so).

Remove chocolate from pan and cut, top side face down, into squares. Divide the block into sixths each direction, so your squares will be a bit larger than 1″ x 1″. Use a long, thin knife. Heat the knife under hot water, wipe dry with a towel or paper towel, make a few cuts, then repeat the knife-heating procedure. Makes 36 squares, although those corner squares are shaped a little funny…you might just want to eat those straight up while you’re cooking. You need the energy for all this hard work.

For both the marshmallows and the chocolate squares, feel free to get creative with flavorings and/or rolling them in peppermint pieces, cocoa, etc. I just used a little vanilla in the chocolate and kept it simple. And they are still mighty delicious! One stick is good for about 4 – 8 ounces of hot milk…depending on how chocolatey you like it.

I wrapped each stick in a square of cellophane and tied it with a pretty ribbon. I’m kind of in love with my hot chocolates on sticks.

For delivery, I packed the sticks in white lunch bags (I found some at Target) with the tops cut off so that the sticks would poke out the top. I then stapled a simple card printed from my computer with directions for the chocolate. Click here to download cards to print and use. Consider it my holiday gift to you!) For a few people I actually drew a snowman on the bag. Then I realized I was going to be drawing snowmen forever and I gave up.

You can fit about 6 sticks in one bag comfortably. Because your hot chocolate wants to be comfortable. Trust me.

I made three batches of the chocolate blocks and 2 batches of the marshmallows. I was able to make about 100 sticks, with marshmallows leftover. Also, I made sure to cut the marshmallows a bit smaller than the chocolates, I thought they looked a little cuter and more balanced that way.

There you have it! Hot Chocolate on a Stick! Happy Holidays!