December 16, 2011
These little sticks were a big hit at my daughter’s birthday party last weekend. You take these sticks of chocolate and stir them into mugs of warm milk to make hot chocolate. It didn’t make the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted but it was fun and the girls loved licking the melty chocolate off the sticks as they melted in their little mugs of hot milk. So cute!
Quantity: 40 mini-pops (will vary depending on the size of your trays)
2 cups semi-sweet hot chocolate chips or wafers (I like Guittard best)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
Crushed candy canes
Sticks
Silicone ice cube trays
Pour the chocolate chips (or wafers) into a microwave-safe glass bowl. Here’s a great tip from Jacques Torres: microwave in increments of 20 seconds, stirring the bowl of chocolate after each round time. I usually do this a total of four times. The last time you zap the chocolates there will still be some little chunks; just stir until everything dissolves.
Mix in the cocoa powder and peppermint extract.
Transfer the mixture to a piping bag and fill the ice cube tray squares with the chocolate. Next, stick your sticks in (well, how else should I say that?). Mine stayed straight from the get-go, but you may have to let your chocolate cubes firm up a little before sticking it to them.
Once the chocolate cubes have hardened, pop them out. I re-melted a little of the chocolate I had saved from the start and dipped the end of each “pop” in the chocolate and then in the crushed candy canes.
