Rich, spicy hot chocolate a decadent treat

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Today for Homemade Holidays, we have a spicy and satisfying stovetop hot chocolate recipe from Free Press reader Sandy Rubinfeld. Hot tip: If you don’t finish the whole pot, you can store the leftovers in the fridge and mix it into your morning coffee for a fancy faux-mocha — make sure to stir well, as the hot chocolate thickens further in the cold.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/06/2025 (426 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Today for Homemade Holidays, we have a spicy and satisfying stovetop hot chocolate recipe from Free Press reader Sandy Rubinfeld. Hot tip: If you don’t finish the whole pot, you can store the leftovers in the fridge and mix it into your morning coffee for a fancy faux-mocha — make sure to stir well, as the hot chocolate thickens further in the cold.

“This is the very best hot chocolate I have ever tasted! It is perfect for a chilly Winnipeg winter day. It is incredibly rich, like a hot chocolate pudding, so I save it for rare occasions. I came across it decades ago in The Vegetarian Epicure Book Two. It is authentic to northern Spain,” writes Sandy.

Castilian Hot Chocolate

(Eva Wasney photo)

(Eva Wasney photo)

Submitted by Sandy Rubinfeld

125 ml (1/2 cup) unsweetened powdered cocoa

250 ml (1 cup) sugar

35 ml (7 tsp) cornstarch

125 ml (1/2 cup) water

1 litre (4 cups) milk

1 ml (1/8 tsp) red pepper flakes (optional)

5 ml (1 tsp) cinnamon (optional)

Mix the cocoa and sugar together.

(Eva Wasney photo)

(Eva Wasney photo)

Dissolve the cornstarch in lukewarm water. Combine this with the cocoa-sugar mixture in a medium-sized saucepan. Stir until it forms a smooth paste.

Slowly begin heating this mixture. Continuously stir with a whisk. Gradually pour in the milk. Continue stirring, as you bring it to a simmer.

Simmer, stirring often, for at least 10 minutes. If using, you can add the cinnamon and red pepper flakes at this point.

The cocoa is ready when it thickens, and is a glossy, smooth, rich chocolate colour. The consistency should be like a chocolate pudding that didn’t quite set.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

Eva Wasney

Eva Wasney
Arts Reporter

Eva Wasney is a reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press.

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Restrictions to be further eased Friday

Larry Kusch 6 minute read Preview

Restrictions to be further eased Friday

Larry Kusch 6 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021

Beginning Friday, Manitobans can once again dine in a restaurant, work out in a gym, get their nails done, worship together or play hockey outdoors — as long as pandemic protocols are followed.

The provincial government’s “cautious” easing of restrictions follows weeks of lower COVID-19 case counts and a steady drop in the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals and intensive-care units.

In announcing the changes Tuesday, along with chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin, Premier Brian Pallister called it “a good day for Manitobans.”

The new provincewide public-health order, set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday, is virtually identical to a proposal floated by the Progressive Conservative government last week. It is scheduled to be in place for three weeks.

Read
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021

West Kildonan Industrial residents call for speed bumps after child hit by truck

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Preview

West Kildonan Industrial residents call for speed bumps after child hit by truck

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026

Residents in the West Kildonan Industrial neighbourhood are calling on the city to install speed bumps in their area after a child was hit and dragged by a vehicle Thursday.

Katelyn Bemister lives near the area where the child — who was hospitalized as a result of the incident and has been upgraded to stable condition — was struck. She says people frequently speed in the area.

“They’re going really fast, and they’re not really paying attention at all to the pedestrians in the area,” says Bemister.

In video supplied to the Free Press by a resident, the child can be seen riding a bike down a sidewalk along the 500 block of North Point Boulevard.

Read
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026

Célébrer des employés qui mettent la main à la pâte

Jaider Cabarcas 7 minute read Preview

Célébrer des employés qui mettent la main à la pâte

Jaider Cabarcas 7 minute read Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026

L’immigration francophone joue un rôle grandissant dans la vitalité de Saint-Pierre-Jolys. À la Boulangerie Saint-Pierre, des employés venus de plusieurs pays contribuent à la croissance de l’entreprise tout en s’intégrant à la vie du village. Une diversité que l’entreprise souhaite célébrer avec une nouvelle murale.

La Boulangerie Saint-Pierre, à Saint-Pierre-Jolys, connaît une importante expansion depuis quelques années. Pour Jocelyn Gagné, propriétaire de l’entreprise familiale, cette croissance repose largement sur le travail de ses employés, dont plusieurs sont des immigrants francophones. C’est pour souligner leur contribution que la boulangerie, en collaboration avec l’artiste franco-manitobain Gérald Laroche, a entrepris la création d’une murale qui ornera bientôt sa façade.

Jocelyn Gagné, qui travaille dans l’entreprise depuis l’âge de 13 ans, alors que ses parents étaient propriétaires, constate bien que la société a changé à travers les années. “On est rendu dans près de 150 magasins, on a grandi pas mal vite dans la dernière année. On a beaucoup plus d’employés que dans le temps de mes parents.” Avec une telle croissance, le besoin d’engager davantage de main-d’œuvre est venu naturellement.

Un Folklorama à l’année longue

Read
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026

Former MLA Kevin Chief opens up about his 18 years of sobriety

Katie May 14 minute read Preview

Former MLA Kevin Chief opens up about his 18 years of sobriety

Katie May 14 minute read Saturday, May. 30, 2020

Every day starts and ends with a prayer.

In the morning, Kevin Chief asks for the strength and courage to stay sober. At night, he thanks the Creator for another day of sobriety. It’s been 18 years since his last drink. Staying sober is still the most important thing to him.

“You’d have to be pretty close to me to know. And there are people today who know me very well that don’t know,” the 45-year-old father of three says.

“I never meant it to be like that. The anonymity was important to me because I honestly thought I wouldn’t make it, and I thought it’d be embarrassing when I slipped again. So I thought it was better for me to not let people know. And then my sponsor told me, ‘Look, you’ll know when the time’s right. You don’t need to force it.’”

Read
Saturday, May. 30, 2020

Sea Bears finish on top

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Preview

Sea Bears finish on top

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026

Beauty. Bliss. Ecstasy.

That is how Aug. 15, 2026 will be remembered in Winnipeg.

What was once a pipe dream in the city’s hoops community became an epic reality on Saturday, when Simon Hildebrandt, who grew up playing on the courts of this very town, made good on a three-pointer from the wing to crown the Winnipeg Sea Bears Canadian Elite Basketball League champions.

A storybook ending to a 98-84 victory over the Brampton Honey Badgers sent a CEBL attendance record of 12,519 fans into pandemonium at Canada Life Centre and capped a Finals run for the ages — one that was fraught with injury, impromptu player exits and unprecedented circumstances.

Read
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026

Aide: Trump dismissed Jan. 6 threats, wanted to join crowd

Mary Clare Jalonick, Farnoush Amiri, Eric Tucker And Michael Balsamo, The Associated Press 8 minute read Preview

Aide: Trump dismissed Jan. 6 threats, wanted to join crowd

Mary Clare Jalonick, Farnoush Amiri, Eric Tucker And Michael Balsamo, The Associated Press 8 minute read Wednesday, Jun. 29, 2022

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump rebuffed his own security’s warnings about armed protesters in the Jan. 6 rally crowd and made desperate attempts to join his supporters as they marched to the Capitol, according to dramatic new testimony before the House committee investigating the 2021 insurrection.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a little-known former White House aide, described an angry, defiant president who was trying that day to let armed protesters avoid security screenings at a rally that morning to protest his 2020 election defeat and who later grabbed at the steering wheel of the presidential SUV when the Secret Service refused to let him go to the Capitol.

And when the events at the Capitol spiraled toward violence, with the crowd chanting to “Hang Mike Pence,” she testified Tuesday that Trump declined to intervene.

Trump “doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong,” Hutchinson recalled hearing from her boss, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Read
Wednesday, Jun. 29, 2022