Hot Chocolate

Here's a rich version of a favorite warm-up.

This is a variation of a recipe developed by the late Patrick Clark, chef of New York's Tavern on the Green.

White chocolate adds a bit of luxury to the steaming brew.

If you don't have a molinillo, the traditional hot chocolate frother, use a blender instead.

This recipe calls for semisweet chocolate; try a Mexican chocolate such as cinnamon-flavored Ibarra from Guadalajara if you can. If using Ibarra, omit the cinnamon sticks and brown sugar.

Here's the archetypal cocoa, topped with marshmallows and made even better by the addition of bittersweet chocolate.

The flavor of orange  — a natural partner for chocolate  — really comes through in this dessert-like drink. It's topped with sweet whipped cream and can be garnished with orange peel twists and chocolate curls. If you prefer cocoa a little less rich, cut the amount of milk chocolate to seven ounces.

Peppermint schnapps makes this drink a candy cane with a kick, but the liquor can be omitted. Either way, indulge and top the hot chocolate with whipped cream and more crushed peppermint candy.

This recipe should be made with traditional Sicilian chocolate (which contains wheat starch) as made by L'Antica Dolceria Bonajuto in Modica, Italy. It's available via their website at http://ragusaonline.com/bonajuto/_index.htm

Louise Pickerel of Muskogee, Oklahoma, writes: "The hot chocolate with coffee and hazelnut liqueurs here is my version of a restaurant recipe. I call it a "chocolate bar," and it does make a nice, lighter alternative to dessert after a filling meal. It's also something good to curl up with in front of the fire." Warming and full of holiday cheer.