Valentine's Day Treat

Both Andrew and I have our fortés, specially when it comes to the kitchen: he cooks, I eat. Simple. Luv that! However, I do enjoy concocting ingenious chocolate decadence every once in awhile.

My culinary alchemist and I shared an evening of pork tenderloin with wine reduction sauce, baby aspargras, sweet potatoe and a luscious bottle of Ravenswood Zinfandel; inspired by one of our new favorite Atlanta restaurants: Vine. Additionally, I made every exception to get my carcass into the kitchen to do something nice for my beloved and decided to create something totally new.

Manhattan's ice cream parlor, Serendipity 3, gave me impetus to attempt their Frozen Hot Chocolate. Realizing that the prep time was minimal and we'd have fun sharing a little chocolate tête-a-tête, I can see how this was 'the bomb' 50 years ago.

Frozen Hot Chocolate Recipe
Ingredients

6 half-ounce pieces of a variety of your favorite chocolates
2 teaspoons store-bought hot chocolate mix
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups ice
Whipped cream
Chocolate shavings

Directions

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place it in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted.

Add the cocoa and sugar, stirring constantly until thoroughly blended. Remove from heat and slowly add 1/2 cup of the milk and stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

In a blender place the remaining cup of milk, the room temperature chocolate mixture, and the ice. 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.

Enjoy with a spoon or a straw.

Our recommendations
We shopped at our local Wholefoods and picked up hazelnut milk chocolate, Ghirdelli's double-chocolate chip and dark chocolate bar. We also used only 2 cups of ice since all 3 cups taxed our blender.

Enjoy!

I just had to make my Valentine a card: