Heart Cocoa for Two

Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?

The kids love giving Valentines to their friends and I like to make a special meal for the family and pull out the fine china, just for fun.

This year, a group of blogging friends got us thinking about great recipes for two.

But what to make?  Since Valentines is always a family affair, isn’t really Valentines for 4!

Then, last weekend I kicked the kids outside to play in subzero temps so I could get a paper written, with promises of hot chocolate when they came back in.

And inspiration hit!

What if I made Valentines hot chocolate for the kids?  I found this cute idea for cutting hearts out of marshmallows as a super fun and easy treat!

I also added some pink candy melts and it’s tough to see in the picture, but the hot chocolate does have a slight pink hue!  So fun!

But, as recipes so often do, this recipe is doing double duty!  That’s right, this is also my recipe for this month’s Cook the Books Club pick: The Discovery of Chocolate by Janes Runcie. 

Sadly, what could have been an enticing book was fraught with inaccuracies and downright boring.  I don’t even have the energy to rehash it, so here is my GoodReads review:

The Discovery of Chocolate: A Novel by James Runcie
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book would have been much better off as a novella featuring the love story between Diego and Ignacia. The first quarter and the last tenth of the book were the only parts that were worth reading. The part inbetween were mind numbingly boring and nonsensical.

The main problem was this: the author wanted an immortal character and therefore introduced time travel, immortality and extremely slow aging (his pulse beats at 1/10 the speed of a normal person so he ages super slowly or something). I'm a huge science fiction fan, so I have no problem with any of these theories except that the cannot co-exist in the same story. Either he's immortal or he ages slowly. Either he lives long because of slow aging or he jumps through time of space. It can't be all of them! This is especially problematic since the time travel element was introduced early in the story, but the reason for the apparent time travel was never addressed (was it a time turner like Harry Potter? Stones like Outlander? A wardrobe like Narnia? A black hole like every sci-fi movie ever? WHAT WAS IT?!?) Then time travel is abandoned and slow aging is introduced (and that's fine too - all the vampire/werewolf/fearie stories prepare the reader for immortality)- it simply doesn't make sense to switch from one to the other and it irked me for the rest of the story.

Plus the characters were rather boring and the bedroom scenes were just icky - I felt like I needed a shower afterward. Just gross.

I feel like I'm being generous giving this book two stars. Since the story was intriguing again in the end, it partially redeemed itself enough to give two stars.

View all my reviews

I mean seriously, how can you make chocolate boring?  So frustrating!

Hot chocolate played a huge (and confusing) role in this story, so this recipe fits the bill perfectly.

Except, let me tell you something.  This recipe totally uses hot chocolate mix, because I would have a full scale revolt on my hands if I tried anything else!  My kids love them some swiss miss mix!

You could definitely make this with a homemade hot chocolate or a dark chocolate mocha!  Ah! So good!

Here are some other amazing Valentine recipes for two!

Savory

• Chicken Florentine for 2 by Strawberry Blondie Kitchen
• Jerk Scallops with Pineapple Salsa over Coconut Rice by Books n’ Cooks
• Pork Filet Mignon by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Sweet

• Banana Split Cookie Trifle for Two by Palatable Pastime
• Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie for Two (Pizookies) by House of Nash Eats
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cakes for 2 by Kate's Recipe Box
• Do You Carrot All Cake by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Heart Cocoa for Two by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Red Velvet Valentine Cake for Two by The Freshman Cook

Heart Cocoa for Two

12 ounces lowfat milk

¼ cup hot chocolate mix with mini marshmallows

¼ cup bright pink candy melts

2 large marshmallows

Heart sprinkles

Heat the milk to steaming.  Add the candy melts and allow them to sit for 1 minute.  Whisk until the candy is melted, when whisk in the hot chocolate mix.

Pour into mugs.  Use a small heart cookie cutter to cut hearts into marshmallows.  Add heart sprinkles just for fun.

print recipe

Heart Cocoa for Two

by Amy's Cooking Adventures February-2-2018

Heart Cocoa for Two is the perfect Valentine's treat for you and your sweetie! #recipesfortwo

Ingredients

• 12 ounces lowfat milk
• 1/4 cup hot cocoa mix
• 1/4 cup pink candy melts
• 2 marshmallows

Instructions

Heat the milk to steaming. Add the candy melts and allow them to sit for 1 minute. Whisk until the candy is melted, when whisk in the hot chocolate mix. Pour into mugs. Use a small heart cookie cutter to cut hearts into marshmallows. Add heart sprinkles just for fun.

Details

Prep time: 2 mins Cook time: 3 mins Total time: 5 mins Yield: 2 cups of cocoa