Elf and Mint Hot Chocolate

Really is there any other flavor for hot chocolate more appropriate to accompany Elf? Really, what else would Buddy drink? Well maybe maple syrup flavored hot chocolate but...ew.

Lacking extract I thought it would be a good idea to steep mint leaves in milk for a while. It may have gone well had one thing and the other not got in the way. I stripped and bruised the leaves, added them to the milk, and put it all back in the refrigerator with the intention of only letting it steep for half hour or so. Just before the 30 minutes were up I got a phone call from my priest and ran out to meet him. 40 minutes later I got home five minutes before a schedule teleconference with Palestine.

Long story short, by the time I got around to making the hot chocolate the leaves had been steeping for  at least three times as long as I'd intended. Whether it was that or it was simply a bad idea to use leaves the mint hot chocolate did not turn out as well as I was hoping. I got a brief hint of mint at first sip which quickly transitioned to...leaf. So my mint hot chocolate was more like leaf hot chocolate. Which was an interesting if utterly unintended flavor.

Recipe:

• 1 Cup milk
• 1/4 Cup heavy cream
• 50-ish grams dark chocolate
• Mint leaves*

1. Wash and strip mint leaves from 6-7 stalks. Bruise with your fingers.
2. Steep in milk/cream for half an hour or so.
3. Heat milk until just hot then remove mint leaves.
4. Whisk in chocolate, add a little sugar if desired.

*Of course you could just use peppermint extract :)