Coconut Hot Chocolate with Soft Meringue
By Joe
Source: NYT Cooking.
A rich, silky hot chocolate made with a whole can of coconut milk, cocoa and dark chocolate, crowned with a soft, glossy meringue.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Cocoa paste. Put the cocoa in the saucepan and whisk in the boiling water a little at a time to a smooth paste. Hot water blooms the cocoa and stops lumps forming.
- 2
Simmer. Add the coconut milk, brown sugar and salt and heat gently for about 3 minutes, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is steaming.
- 3
Chocolate. Take the pan off the heat, whisk in the chopped chocolate until glossy, then add the vanilla. Keep it warm on the lowest heat.
- 4
Meringue. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg white until foamy, then add the sugar a spoonful at a time and whisk for 4-5 minutes more, until it forms soft, shiny peaks.
- 5
Serve. Pour the hot chocolate into three small mugs and spoon a cloud of meringue on top of each.
Storage
Best served at once. The hot chocolate (without meringue) keeps 2 days in the fridge; reheat gently, whisking, until steaming. Cool leftovers in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours (within 1 hour on a day above 32°C).
EU nutrition claims
- Low salt: 0.13 g salt per 100 ml (limit ≤ 0.3 g)
Per 100 ml of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 158 ml a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Caffeine · Free sugars
- Per serving: about 11–16 mg caffeine (serving: 1 cup). Source: per serving 3.6 g cocoa × USDA FDC SR Legacy #169593 (cocoa powder, 230 mg/100 g) or #169594 (Dutch-processed cocoa, 78 mg/100 g), plus 10 g dark chocolate × #170273 (70–85% cacao, 80 mg/100 g).
- Scaling: making more servings does not change the caffeine in each serving; what counts is how many servings you drink in a day. 1 serving: 11–16 mg · 2 servings: 22–32 mg · 3 servings: 33–48 mg · 4 servings: 44–64 mg.
- General guideline: EFSA Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine (2015): for healthy adults, up to 200 mg in a single dose and up to 400 mg per day do not raise safety concerns. 1 serving = 3–4 % of 400 mg. EFSA
28.7 g per serving
57.4 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 114.8 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- medium saucepan
- whisk
- electric hand whisk and a clean bowl
- 3 small mugs
Nutrition per serving Calculated from USDA FoodData Central
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 443 kcal |
| Protein | 5.4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 37.2 g |
| of which sugars | 28.9 g |
| of which free sugars | 28.7 g |
| Fat | 33.3 g |
| of which saturates | 28 g |
| Fibre | 2.6 g |
| Salt | 0.2 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
1.2 g High protein needs ≥ 5 g per 100 kcal (20% of energy) and ≥ 10 g per serving
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
