Hot chocolate (not the 'you sexy thing' band)

I don't want to start a heated debate here, but the issue had to come up of hot chocolate; perhaps the most divisive topic of all for us treat-seeking missiles.


Some argue that much of the pleasure to be had from chocolate is in the texture; transforming it from crackingly solid to meltingly gooey in seconds on the tongue. For this reason, hot chocolate, in a purist choconaut's eyes, has no place even using the word chocolate in its name. But for others, it's a piping hot liquid unmatched by any other and the only brown liquid worth heating up milk for. The sugary sweetness, the frothy top, the sludge in the bottom, and the potential for dunking a chocolate biscuit and getting a double hit is certainly an attraction for me. I admit there was a time when milk made me feel a bit queasy - I still can't drink it cold, not even on cereal. Perhaps it's the greasy udderiness that I can't get past. But I have learned to enjoy it hot with the help of my faithful friend chocolate.

For the record, if you're drinking out then there are few hot chocolate's to rival Marks and Spencers for me, in which they always seem to deliver the perfect milk to chocolate ratio. It's good quality chocolate too, what else would one expect? Cafe Nero also delivers a first-rate hot choclate but I mark them down for charging extra for soya milk - cheeky monkeys. And I have been boycotting starbucks because of their unforgiving stranglehold on the coffee-shop market. Let someone else have a bit of business you greedy bucks.

If you're into making a hottie at home then a jar of good old Cadbury hits the spot every time. I don't hold with these low-cal varieties though. They are far too fake and nasty tasting and seem to be stuffed with sweeteners, aspartame, E numbers and the like. Full-fat all the way I think. Just have one less often if you're worried about becoming a bloater.

Ok, might go and put a pan on the hob and choc it up right now to send me into snoozeville. Sleep tight choc-kins and sweet dreams...