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The secret to Dandelion Chocolate’s decadent hot chocolate

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San Francisco’s chocolate fame dates back to the Gold Rush, when Domenico Ghirardelli and Etienne Guittard began their careers as chocolatiers. But small-batch, bean-to-bar chocolatiers, such as Dandelion Chocolate, have joined the delicious scene in recent years. Dandelion serves up sinfully delicious riffs on the chocolate theme — including several decadent hot chocolates — from its Mission district factory cafe and its kiosk in the Ferry Building Marketplace, just steps from the Embarcadero’s seasonal holiday ice rink.

Dandelion’s House Hot Chocolate is “our take on an all-American favorite,” says Dandelion pastry chef Lisa Vega in Dandelion’s “Making Chocolate: From Bean to Bar to S’more” cookbook, which was published just last year. “Using nonfat milk allows the chocolate to take center stage, and the nearly 2:1 ratio makes it thinner — and tastier to most kids — and easy to drink lots of, which we consider a plus.”

The recipe was developed by Dandelion’s first pastry chef, Phil Ogiela, as a lighter, more American twist on the cafe’s crazy-popular European Drinking Chocolate, which is made with whole milk — and tastes like you’re sipping a molten chocolate bar.

Looking for a more seasonal sip? Dandelion’s Gingerbread Hot Chocolate adds classic gingerbread spices — cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg — and a touch of molasses to the mix. You end up with more spice mix than you need for this recipe, but the spice mix keeps indefinitely in a glass jar, and it’s perfect for holiday baking, too. Or you could just make more hot chocolate. Yum.

Dandelion’s House Hot Chocolate

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2½ cups nonfat milk, divided use

1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar

1½ cups chopped chocolate, 70-percent cacao

Directions:

1. Combine 1 cup milk and the brown sugar in a large heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Heat the milk mixture until steaming, whisking occasionally.
2. Add the chocolate to the hot milk and whisk to combine, keeping the bowl over the pot to continue heating it. Whisk the mixture for an additional 3 minutes, until shiny and emulsified. This mix — ganache — may seem quite thick at this point.
3. Whisk in the rest of the milk, adding it in a slow stream, and heat for another 4 to 5 minutes, whisking occasionally, until hot.
4. Remove the bowl from the pot of water, pour the hot chocolate into mugs and serve immediately. As always, we recommend adding a few marshmallows.

Dandelion’s Gingerbread Hot Chocolate

Serves 5

Gingerbread spice mix:

7 teaspoons ground cinnamon

9½ teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cloves

Hot chocolate:

4¼ cups nonfat milk, divided use

1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar

1½ cups chopped chocolate, 70-percent cacao

2½ teaspoons molasses

1½ teaspoons gingerbread spice mix

Directions:

1. Combine the gingerbread spice mix ingredients, whisking to combine. Set aside.
2. Combine 1 cup milk and the brown sugar in a large heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Heat the milk mixture until steaming, whisking occasionally.
3. Add the chocolate to the hot milk and whisk to combine, keeping the bowl over the pot to continue heating it. Whisk the mixture for an additional 3 minutes, until shiny and emulsified.
4. Add the molasses and 1½ teaspoons of gingerbread spice mix to the bowl, and whisk to combine.
5. Whisk in the remaining milk, adding it in a slow stream. Continue heating the hot chocolate until steaming, about 10 minutes, whisking occasionally.
6. Remove the bowl from the pot of water, pour the hot chocolate into mugs and serve immediately, topped with marshmallows.

— Dandelion Chocolate’s “Making Chocolate: From Bean to Bar to S’more” (Clarkson Potter, 2017)