For Christmas, I hosted my dad’s side of the family at my house for a “due”. There were 14 kids aged 13 and under and I wanted to do something special for them. I thought a hot chocolate bar fit the bill!
I started by making “drinking chocolate”….doesn’t that sound SOOOO good….and it’s miles better than hot chocolate powder. I used a recipe posted by my friend Tina, from The Pink Spatula. Click here for the recipe. I poured it into a ceramic milk carton so that I could microwave it just before serving. I heated milk up in the microwave and kept it warm in carafes.
Because it was a larger group (I was convinced some of the adults might partake!), I put out disposable cups with lids and straws in a basket. Not only did this make for easy clean up but spills were avoided.
Dylan, my daughter, and I dipped marshmallows in melted chocolate and then sprinkled them with….well… sprinkles! We then put a skewer in them and hand written tags with Christmas wishes…Joy, Sweet Tidings, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Noel….Dylan had fun being creative and putting her own touch on the tags.
I bought dollar store salt and pepper shakers and we filled them with fun toppings including cinnamon sugar.
Here are the things we included in our bar….
- drinking chocolate
- hot milk
- chocolate dipped marshmallows
- mini Rolos
- cookies n cream Hershey’s drops
- Milsean Demerara Butter Crunch (crushed up)
- caramels
- crushed candy canes
- mint Ovations
- chocolate hazelnut pirouettes
- chocolate sauce
- caramel sauce
- whipped cream
- The Pink Spatula Cafe au Lait Marshmallows
- The Pink Spatula Orange Cranberry Marshmallows
- sprinkles (red, green, cinnamon sugar, & chocolate)
The great thing about a hot chocolate bar is you can include all of your favorite things and have fun putting together a yummy warm drink. My girls both LOVE coffee, so they loved the Cafe au Lait marshmallows with the hot chocolate. Add some whipped cream and chocolate sauce and you have a mocha!
Next time I’d like to create some custom labels for the cups. I saw these ones online…SOOO cute! I just plum ran out of time this round!
Image courtesy of http://indulgy.com/post/8L6qdxClM1/love-the-labels-for-hot-chocolate
Use serving dishes and pieces of differing heights so that all items can be seen…it just makes it more visually appealing. I also used square vases and votive holders for some of the toppings (the same ones I’ve used for antipasto platters!).
This is a fun idea for a Christmas gathering, a New Year’s Eve party, a skating party and a winter birthday party!!
