The Ritual Master Whether you’re alone or in good company, Christmas drinks are the detail that brings everything together. So tonight, I thought I share some of my favourite holiday drinks.
Starting off with a decadent hot chocolate recipe. For me, the balance between sweetness and bitterness is essential for a great hot chocolate. So I tend to go heavier on the darker part, and light on the sweetner. My recipe is a vegan one, but you can use any type of milk you like. I start off with a perfect mix to give creaminess to my drink. In a blender mix 50 grams of pre-soaked cashew nuts, two tablespoons of raw dark cacao, one teaspoon of cinnamon, one and a half to two cups of vegetable milk (I used rice and hazelnut milk) and about 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. This doesn’t come out very sweet, but you can always add on some maple syrup at the end, it doesn’t need time to dissolve. Whizz it up real good in a blender, so that all you cashews are broken apart. Then transfer into a saucepan with 40 grams of dark chocolate, here I used 80% chocolate, so it’s really intense. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly so the chocolate melts evenly, then transfer to a festive cup and enjoy. I was a bit greedy and used my gigantic festive mug, but in reality, this makes for two perfectly decent cups of yumminess.
My light alternative to a mulled wine is a sweet and fragrant mulled cider. In France, there are two main types of cider, doux or soft, and brut or dry. The softer one is less fermented so the sugars have not completely transformed into alcohol, so it’s only 3% and much sweeter to taste. I prefer it, since this gives me the freedom to keep it no-sugar-added, but if you like a sweeter version, by all means, sweeten it to your taste. In a saucepan I add my cider, three cardamom pods, a stick of cinnamon, 8 to 10 whole cloves and a few slices of clementine. I bring it to a boil, and let it simmer until I smell the spices in the air, this takes about 5 minutes. Serve it in your Santa cup and enjoy in front of the Christmas tree.
For Christmas Eve, I have a delicious recipe for a vegan eggnog that will conquer any festive skeptic. Dairy is no longer universally tolerated, or at least we know about it more these days, and with a menu already on the rich side, eggs in your drink doesn’t seem reasonable for your liver. So why not try this lighter version, because if we’re honest, the nutmeg is already half the charm. I like to mix it up in a old liqueur bottle I kept, that way it’s easy to store it in the fridge if you have leftovers. So in goes half a cup of dense coconut milk, one and a half cups of almond milk, 5 tablespoons of maple syrup, and for the adults, I like to add a fragrant alcohol, that brings some character to the mix, so my weapon of choice is amaretto. Shake well before serving in beautiful cups and garnishing with a generous sprinkle of nutmeg.
Cheers, everyone ! And happy holidays !
