Recipe for "spanish-cocoa"

NAME

     SPANISH-COCOA - Thick, rich Spanish hot chocolate
     I first tasted this  wonderful  beverage  while  touring  in
     northern  Spain  with  a  choir.  It's not like any hot cho-
     colate I've had anywhere else, and I was delighted to find a
     recipe  in  The  Vegetarian Epicure Book Two. It is the best
     hot chocolate in the world (at least to me.)

INGREDIENTS (Serves 6)

     55 g      unsweetened powdered cocoa
     200 g     sugar
     25 g      cornstarch (cornflour)
     120 ml    water
     1 l       milk

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Mix the cocoa and sugar together.
          (2)  Dissolve the cornstarch (cornflour) in  the  water
               and  combine  with  the  cocoa-sugar  mixture in a
               medium-sized saucepan.  Stir this until  it  is  a
               smooth paste.
          (3)  Begin heating this mixture, continuously  stirring
               it  with  a  whisk.   Gradually  pour in the milk.
               Continue stirring as you bring it to a simmer.
          (4)  Simmer, stirring often, for about 10 minutes.  The
               cocoa  is ready when it thickens and is glossy and
               smooth.

NOTES

     The consistency of the finished product should resemble cho-
     colate  pudding  that  didn't  quite set.  If you halve this
     recipe, you'll get just the right amount for two large  mug-
     fulls.   This  cocoa  is  especially  fantastic when you dip
     churros  into  it  (a  churro  is  a   sugary,   deep-fried,
     doughnut-like  stick,  and  if  anyone  wants  to send out a
     recipe, I'd be most grateful).

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time: 15 minutes.  Precision: measure the
     ingredients.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Tovah Hollander
     UCLA Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, Los Angeles, California USA
     {sdcrdcf,hao}!cepu!tovah