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AI-generated photograph: A round earthenware cup of hot chocolate with a tall pale brown foam head, a carved wooden whisk and a cinnamon stick laid beside it

Home · Recipes · Chocolate de agua, Oaxacan hot chocolate

Oaxacan · Drinks

Chocolate de agua, Oaxacan hot chocolate

dark chocolate · cinnamon and almond · whisked to a foam

AI-generated photograph

In Oaxaca chocolate is ground with sugar, cinnamon and almonds and whisked with hot water until a thick foam rises. Ours makes the same drink from dark chocolate and ground almonds: light, spiced, not too sweet, and with no milk.

Contains: tree nuts, as written. Nuts (ground almonds). Dark chocolate can contain milk and soya lecithin, so check the label and choose one with neither.

Ingredients

  • 80g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), with no milk or soya on the label, chopped
  • 30g ground almonds
  • 40g soft brown sugar
  • 1 cinnamon stick (about 5cm)
  • A pinch of fine salt

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Let's cook

  1. Put 1 litre water and the cinnamon stick in a pan, bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 5 minutes so the water takes on the cinnamon.
  2. Turn the heat to low and add the chocolate, ground almonds, sugar and salt. Whisk until the chocolate has melted completely.
  3. Simmer very gently for 5 minutes, whisking now and then, so the almonds soften and the drink thickens slightly. Do not let it boil hard.
  4. Lift out the cinnamon stick. Whisk the chocolate hard for a minute, or use a stick blender (keeping the head under the surface), until a thick layer of foam rises on top. In Oaxaca this is done with a molinillo, a carved wooden whisk spun between the palms.
  5. Taste and add a little more sugar if you like it sweeter.
  6. Pour into warm cups, spooning plenty of foam on top of each one. Serve straight away while the foam holds.

Tips

  • Soft brown sugar stands in for piloncillo, the cone shaped unrefined cane sugar used in Mexico; online Mexican food shops in the UK sell it if you want the real thing.
  • For a smoother drink, pour it through a fine sieve before you froth it, to catch the almond grains.
  • Keep any left over covered in the fridge for up to 2 days and reheat gently, whisking it frothy again.

Swaps

  • No nuts: leave out the almonds and add 20g more chocolate.
  • Creamier: use half oat drink (labelled gluten free if you need it) and half water, as some Oaxacan families make chocolate de leche with milk.

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

From the same kitchen

What goes with it.