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Guatemalan Chocolate
2 SQUARES UNSWEET- ENED CHOCOLATE 1/2 CUP SUGAR I TABLESPOON CORNSTARCH 2 CUPS BLACK COFFEE I TABLESPOON CINNAMON I PIECE VANILLA BEAN I SALT SPOON SALT 3 CUPS HOT MILK Melt chocolate with a little water in double boiler over low flame. Add sugar and cornstarch mixed together, then the coffee, and stir until smooth. Simmer 5 minutes. Add cinnamon, vanilla bean and hot milk. Cook 30 minutes. Whip to a froth. Remove vanilla bean and serve.
In Guatemala, as in Mexico, coffee isn't brewed fresh each time it's wanted. A strong essence is made in quantity and bottled for use; by adding hot milk or milk and water to the cold essence you get a good cup of coffee.
The use of vanilla bean instead of extract gives added flavor to this chocolate-coffee combination. A piece a little over an inch long, slit so the seeds will drop out in cooking, is sufficient; or the segment of bean may be mashed with a spoon so all the flavor will go into the drink.
A chocolate-coffee drink thickened lightly with cornstarch and held over gentle heat long enough for the vanilla bean to give up its flavor. The long cooking is the point, but it has to stay below a simmer once the milk goes in.
- Squares of chocolateAn old baking square is 1 ounce, so this is 2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate. Chopped bar chocolate or unsweetened wafers work equally well.
- Salt spoonA salt spoon holds somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 teaspoon. Its job here is to sharpen the chocolate, not to season.
- The 30-minute cookAfter the milk is added, keep the pan in the double boiler or over very low heat. Milk held at a true simmer for half an hour will scorch on the bottom and throw a skin; steaming hot is as far as it should go.
- A tablespoon of cinnamonThat is a heavy hand by modern taste, and ground cinnamon will leave grit. A 3-inch stick of cinnamon added with the vanilla bean, then fished out at the end, gives the same warmth cleanly.
- Vanilla beanSplit the piece lengthwise so the seeds escape, as the note says. If you substitute extract, add about 1/2 teaspoon off the heat at the very end, since prolonged cooking drives it off.
- Black coffeeUse strong brewed coffee, roughly double-strength drip or 2 cups of diluted espresso. The headnote describes a strong bottled essence diluted with hot milk, so weak coffee will leave the drink tasting mostly of milk.
- Whip to a frothA wire whisk, immersion blender, or a Mexican molinillo rolled between the palms all work. Froth just before serving; it collapses within a few minutes.
- YieldAbout 5 cups, which is four generous cups or six small ones.