Frozen Hot Chocolate
Last year, Eric and I went to New York City for the first time. While we were there, we ate at Serendipity 3 and had the most amazing meal. I still think about the meatloaf and mashed potatoes we ate, but the frozen hot chocolate was the most memorable item we had that night. It was unlike any dessert I’ve ever tried. While it was definitely large enough for each of us to have a generous serving, I’m pretty sure I could have downed the entire thing on my own. Seriously.
Shortly after returning from our trip, I tried unsuccessfully to replicate this delicious dessert. Unfortunately, most of the recipes I found called for store-bought hot chocolate mix, which didn’t yield the drink I remembered. I was thrilled when I found a recipe that actually called for making a mix with real chocolate and cocoa powder before turning it into frozen hot chocolate. I used a blend of bittersweet and semisweet chocolate, but I think semisweet on its own would work just fine. The flavor of this will greatly depend on the quality of chocolate you use, and I recommend using the best chocolate you can find. I was afraid the ice would diminish the flavor of the chocolate, but this drink, despite being icy, is actually quite rich. Although I can’t remember exactly how the one I had tasted, I feel like this one is pretty close. And hey, since I can’t go to New York to have one whenever I want, this is a pretty good alternative. I think Serendipity has a couple varieties of this drink, and I can’t wait to try making it again with mint or peanut butter!
- YIELD: 2 generous drinks
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder
3 tablespoons sugar
4½ ounces chocolate, coarsely chopped
1½ cups milk, divided
3 cups ice
Freshly whipped cream and grated chocolate for serving, optional
- 1
Combine butter, cocoa powder and sugar in a small bowl set over a small pot of simmering water. Whisk until a paste forms. Add chocolate and continue whisking until chocolate melted completely. Gradually whisk in ½ cup of milk. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- 2
Once chocolate mixture has cooled, combine it with ice and remaining 1 cup of milk in a blender. Blend until ice is crushed and mixture is thoroughly blended. Do not over blend, as the texture should be somewhat icy.
Top with whipped cream and grated chocolate, if desired. Serve immediately.
The Princess Torte at our local restaurant is amazing! We only get it on special occasions but the woman who makes it is an amazing pastry chef.
It’s a toss up between our wedding cake for sentimental (and tasty!) reasons or the red velvet cheesecake cake I made last night….for pure heavenly reasons.
I haven’t met a dessert I didn’t love, but I’d have to say a dessert called Lemon Lush made by my old coworker’s mom was absolute heaven. It was layers of lemon curd and whipped cream, topped with pistachios and cheeries in a butter crust.
My most memorable dessert was actually just last month. We were in Vegas for my 30th birthday and at a beautiful restaurant high up in one of the casinos. We had a table right by the window so you could see everything. I can’t remember what it was called but it started with a little shortbread round and was topped with a come of peanut butter mousse and then encircled in a teepee of milk and dark chocolate shavings. My husband doesn’t normally eat dessert but who could resist the chocolate peanut butter combo…to my dismay he helped himself to quite a bit :p
The most memorable dessert I have ever had was an ocean cake that my mom made for one of my birthdays!
Happy Valentine’s Day. I’ve been to Serendipity a couple of times, but never got the frozen hot chocolate!
My most memorable dessert has to be a delicious tiramisu from a wonderful Italian restaurant.
My most memorable dessert was the molten chocolate cake at Roy’s on my honeymoon in Maui — absolute heaven!
Sounds simple, but I had spumoni ice cream for the first time a few years ago and I died a little!
I so want to go to NYC JUST so I can try the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity!! Look for my Belgian chocolat chaud in an upcoming blog post– the warm cousin of the frozen version 🙂 The one above looks delish!
We were in Italy on our honeymoon, and got some chocolate gelato rolled in dark chocolate shavings. It was SO GOOD.
When I lived in NYC for grad school my favorite place to go for desserts was a french restaurant in the theater district. They had this layered chocolate mousse they served in a martini glass and it was phenomenal!
Mmm this sounds delish! Will have to try it next time I’m in NYC. Memorable dessert? Peanut Butter Pie. Aaaaah-mazing.
There used to be a little cake shop called Slice of Heaven in my hometown and I loved their Strawberry Cake. It was just a plain yellow cake with buttercream and then fresh strawberries but it was so, so good!
I went to a place called Chocopologie and had the best bread pudding I’ve ever had. It was so simple and beautiful, thinking about it makes me want to go back again!
That looks delicious! I had a few of my cousin’s homemade desserts when we visited them in Greece – they were to die for.
chocolate budino with home made whipped cream from a local restaurant here in Colorado. it was sinfully delicous but so heavenly.
Last year I ate at Bar Americain and had their Bourbon Praline Profiterole with Vanilla Ice Cream. That was the best part of the meal, and probably one of the the best desserts I’ve ever eaten!
Happy Valentine’s Day! The most memorable dessert was a chocolate sampler platter that we got at Alan Wong’s restaurant in Hawaii. Yum!
At a little local place we go to for special occasions, they serve a huge puff pastry with delicious vanilla ice cream inside, topped with fudge sauce, fresh berries, and whipped cream. Delicious. I’ve tried to replicate this at home with some success, but it’s just so much better when someone else does it!
I had chocolate lumpy bumpy in Scotland. It was this amazing concoction of mousse, cream cheese, chocolate, and whipped cream. I’ve never found a recipe.
Happy Valentine’s Day! My most memorable dessert is a molten chocolate cake my mom made one year for my birthday!
This looks amazing! My most memorable dessert sounds simple, but strawberries macerated in balsamic vinegar reduced to a syrup with homemade vanilla ice cream – so good!
The brownies that were made at our sorority house. The cook made the best brownies and no receipe I’ve comes close.
Most memorable dessert? Hmmm… they’re all pretty good (including Serendipity 3’s Frrrozen Hot Chocolate). But I still remember chocolate mousse I had at a local inn when I was a child.
Our wedding cake. Our cater asked us our favorite flavors and created it just for us, it was amazing and I still dream about it.
The most memorable dessert I have ever had would probably be the absolutely awful sugar cookies my sweetie made me a few years back. It’s not my most memorable because of how awful they tasted, but because he does NOT cook in any way, but decided he was going to surprise me with these cookies. He really did try, but they were hard as a rock and the decorating left a lot to be desired. Still my favorite though because it was just so darn sweet. 🙂
When we were in Maui for our honeymoon, we stopped at this little gelato hut right off the side of the road one day, had the most amazing passion fruit ice cream that had been made with coconut milk. I’ve never had anything like it, it was amazing!
Yum, I love hot chocolate, I can’t wait to try this!
My most memorable dessert was probably the HUGE brownie sundae that we got the night we got engaged. We almost never get dessert, but we thought getting engaged was a perfect exuse 🙂
The best dessert I ever had was a molten chocolate cake at Maria Marie in Mexico. So delicious, it was 3 years ago and I’m still in love with it.
The most memorable dessert that I ever had was a DELICIOUS banana gelato from a little ice cream shoppe in Rome. My hubby and I ate cones of it while we walked to the Coliseum. Magical!!
Not to sound totally cheesy, but my most memorable dessert was our wedding cake. It was delicious and pretty.
I would most definitely say a delicious tiramisu. But anything that goes well with a cup of coffee is also a favorite of mine!
Best dessert I ever had was my wedding cake. Cuban rum soaked vanilla cake with vanilla and guava filling…it’s pretty delicious. I might have to order it for our anniversary…just because.
The most memorable dessert I ever had was NOT the best one. I pretty much forced my husband to get a “chocolate bag” (chocolate shell filled with chocolate mousse) because it was the specialty of this restaurant, even though he really wanted a root beer float. It was a fail, and he will never let me forget it. 🙂
My most memorable dessert is a mickey head rice kripsie treat at Disneyland. 🙂 some yummy fun!
Mexican chocolate mousse with orange reduction sauce. When I heard the name I was hesitant to try it, but wow doesn’t even begin to describe the amazing flavors and how well they just meld together!
I went to a restaurant once that served caramelized banana-chocolate-Nutella pudding with a flaming vanilla bean stuck into it…yummmmm.
The best dessert that I ever had was my aunt’s wedding cake. I was about five years old, and I don’t think that I’ve ever seen as decadent of a cake since then. It must have had 5 tiers and each tier had at least 4 layers of cake. Prior to that I was completely oblivious of cake fillings, and I thought that it was the best innovation ever.
A Milky Way Cake – divine! this was a 3 layer cake with caramel frosting, so rich a lot goes a long way!
The most memorable dessert i’ve ever had was a chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake I prepared for New Years last year! it was fantastic, and I even got to share it with my boyfriend. That made it 10x better.
biscotti with dipping wine/liqueur in Italy… it was amazing, with a view of the Tuscan hills to match!
Tiramisu at this tiny whole in the wall Italian Restaurant the hubby and I just happen to find on a night we were going to celebrate 1000 days of marriage. It was like eating a cloud.
That would have to be the birthday cake I made last summer. It was the best one I have ever made and I was so happy! I finally found a winning combo and I couldn’t believe I made such a tasty cake.
My mom makes my favorite dessert EVER…coffee cruch cake. It’s a chocolate cake (with just a hint of coffee flavor), whipped cream/coffee frosting, and homemade crunchy coffee candy that’s been crushed and sprinkled on top. It is to die for, and look forward to it every time I make a visit home!
the red velvet cupcakes at susiecakes bakery. SO moist and delicious~!
I have wanted to try this since I saw it at Serendipity!
Most memorable dessert is a toughie since I am a sweets junkie. I LOVE tiramisu so I think my aunt’s raspberry tiramisu might be it!
Definitely our wedding cake…pink champagne cake…yum!!
The most memorable dessert I’ve ever had was at my favorite Greek restaurant (which has since closed down). They made the most amazing bougatsa- it was warm, custardy, and lightly sprinkled with cinnamon…they were little squares of heaven!
The most memorable and delicious dessert I have ever had was called “Bacon and Eggs” as the restaurant Elements in Princeton, NJ. It was bacon crème brulee served in an eggshell with candied bacon and French toast to dip in it. It sounds a little out there but the mix of sweet and salty was divine.
so many desserts come to mind… maybe the 1st time i had banana’s foster, it was life changing.
The most memorable dessert I’ve had in recent memory was the 3 layer coconut cake at Smith & Wollensky in Washington, D.C. The cake is a light, airy, not overly sweet and had fresh coconut shavings! Divine! I still dream of this cake and hope I can find someone who can replicate it.
Itailan Cream Cake from The Cheesecake Factory.
melodyj(at)gmail(dot)com
Our wedding cake was actually pretty amazing. The bottom was cheesecake and the top was almond cake, and it was served with a raspberry drizzle. Wow!
Plus, the day was pretty wonderful. 🙂
The creme brulee my best friend’s Dad makes. He brings out the blow torch and everything- it’s heavenly!
My best friend attempted to make me an authentic Princess Cake for my birthday a few years ago – the raspberry sauce, the whipped cream, the fondant, the nine yards. Then he attempted to drive it 100 miles to where I live. He was heartbroken that it basically imploded/collapsed into itself … but it was still the most ridiculously delicious cake I ever had, even if it was the prettiest. 🙂
Also, I used to go to Serendipity all the time, well before John Cusack invaded. 🙂 I *love* the frozen hot chocolate.
Yum. That frozen hot chocolate looks delicious.
My most memorable dessert was shared with the boyfriend a few years back; a very unsuspecting creme brulee at my favorite little French bistro downtown. Simple, but perfect.
chocolate soufflé in the Dominican republic:)
The carrot cake at Trulucks. SO GOOD! My husband and I shared a piece and the waiter still told us he had never had people finish a whole piece before. Awesome 🙂 Happy to be the first.
The best/most memorable desert I have ever had was the Red Velvet Cake at Founding Farmers in Washington, D.C. The cake was absolutely perfect, the icing is made from fresh, local ingredients and it comes with house-made vanilla bean ice cream. Amazing!
Most memorable dessert I ever had was the first time I made Nigella’s mini chocolate lava cakes–when I got married I registered for ramekins just so I could make them! Still one of my favorite desserts.
Most memorable dessert was a decadent caramel flan from a spanish restaurant in Mexico. It was crazy good!
My grandmother’s sugar cookies are my most memoriable dessert. Every year she would make them at christmas for me and I would devour them. My brother and I would fight (sometimes literally) over them. This is the first year she was unable to make them for me so I am taking initiative to carry on the tradition. I have done so by making them 4 times in the past two months (I have to practice, right?). It makes me (and my tummy) happy to eat them and think of my grandma while doing so.
Sorghum cake with rum raisin ice cream at F.I.G. in Charleston, SC. Memorable in the sense that I had never heard of it and it was decadent and also memorable because I was visiting Charleston to run my first marathon!
My most memorable dessert is ridiculously simple, yet holds a lot of sentimental value to me. Growing up, my grandparents would always serve plain vanilla ice cream topped with Hershey’s chocolate syrup as a dessert for us grandkids. I used to love letting the ice cream melt and stirring it all up until it was the consistency of a chocolate milk shake and then slurping it up with a spoon. 🙂
I keep thinking about this frozen banana pie I had on a cruise that was amazing. I found a recipe online, but I haven’t made it yet.
My most memorable dessert would have to be when I went to Maggiano’s with my boyfriend over the summer of 2010. We ordered these family style meals that let each person pick a dessert (you were supposed to have 4 do the family style meals because they come in family portions, but the waiter let us do it with 2). Well he does not like sweets, so he let me pick his dessert. I decided to order a fruit/whipped cream thing for me, and for his I picked a chocolate cake. Well, it did not occur to me that it would be family sized as well. The fruit tray that came looked like something that you would see at a party for guests to eat from, and the piece of cake was half of a round cake that was the size of my head. I will never forget when they put both things in front of me because of how big both things were haha. I ended up taking part of each home (after like 5 bites) and ate them for about the next 2-3 days.
Fried plantains I had on my honeymoon in St Lucia. It was melt in your mouth amazing and the first time I had tried plantains.
The best dessert I had was the “Kiss Goodbye” from a local steak resaturant on my birthday last year. It was a chocolate ganache cake with fresh rasberries,a vanilla sauce and whipped cream.
My most memorable dessert are chocolate molten cakes, they are the first dessert I made with my bf, and they are his favorite. whenever i make them they remind me of him
The Gold Rush Sundae at Ghiradelli’s is heavenly! Vanilla ice cream topped with hot, melted peanut butter, and hot fudge, peanuts, whipped cream, and a cherry. Delicious.
Best dessert I ever had: A chocolate torte served with drunken cherries and chantilly creme. It was amazing.
The Praline Cheesecake i had at a restaurant in Savannah. Probably the best dessert I’ve had in my life.
Definitely making this! Even for breakfast!!!
The most memorable dessert I’ve ever had was a chocolate souffle at Roy’s.
The most memorable dessert I have ever had was an Italian dessert platter I had in Florence with my boyfriend. The thought of it just makes my mouth water!
I’m new to the baking and blogging world but recently tried my hand at an orange buttermilk spice cake with a maple orange cream cheese frosting and it was pure heaven. The cake was so light and fluffy and I ate the leftover icing by the spoonful!!
mm..definitely on a cruise ship. flaky, buttery, strawberry napoleon. with a touch of whipped cream. heavenly!
Courtney – My most memorable dessert was probably one that I had when I still worked at VOLT in Frederick MD – it featured nitrogen-frozen sweet corn custard, aka “frozen popcorn” and a sweet/tart blackberry coulis that was pitch perfect. Everything on the plate came together beautifully.
Great post!
Stephanie
Stephanie, I want to go to VOLT so badly. I still am in awe that you worked there. That dessert sounds absolutely phenomenal, and I can see why it would be your most memorable – I haven’t stopped thinking about it since reading your comment!
My most memorable dessert is when my mom made pistachio jello pudding for the first time – she makes it for Saint Patrick’ss day and because it’s green it was intimidating at first (I first had it when I was 4 or 5). Now it’s like a staple for me and I turn other people on to the dessert with a little bit of whipped cream on top. Delicious!
My most memorable dessert is most definetly bananas foster. The first time I had it was when I was working at a restaurant and the chef (who incidentally is now my husband) made it for a special private party. I was, of course, very impressed by the table side fire display. Sensing my yearning for a bite, he saved me some. Warm carmely bananas a top rich vanilla ice cream = heaven! It has been one of my favorites ever since. My sweet husband/chef even made it for me for my birthday this year!
I LOVE Bake It Pretty! My most memorable dessert was my first mango gelato. I know that it’s simple, but I fell in love.
Oh wow, that hot chocolate sounds so decadent – yum! Hope you and Eric had wonderful Valentine’s Day 🙂
My most memorable dessert is probably just the really simple ice cream sundaes I always had as a kid at a local restaurant by our house. I loved them so much, great memories!
Wow! That looks delicious!
I would say the creme brule I had on my Honeymoon way my most memorable! It was served in a large bowl and I ate every last bite.
Any dessert I share with my husband is memorable but taste wise I would have to say Opera Cream cake from a well bakery in our town. It’s as good as it sounds.
The most memorable dessert I’ve had was the time I had a scoop of chocolate gelato next to a scoop of Hazelnut. It was SUCH perfection! 🙂
Most memorable? The first time I had red velvet cupcakes. BLISS!
The most memorable, delicious AND thoughtful dessert I ever had was back in elementary school. It was tradition for moms to cook dessert for their kids to bring into school on their birthday. But when I was in first grade, my grandfather passed away around the time of my birthday and my mom had to jet off for the funeral. I kept telling everyone in class that, “No sorry, I don’t have anything this time.” (At that age I didn’t quite have my priorities in check!) But then all of a sudden, my best friend’s mother walked in with dozens of cupcakes, stemmed with toothpicks that spelled out “Happy Birthday!” I’ve had plenty of dessert in my life, but none was as thoughtful as those cupcakes.
That is so sweet, and I can see why it’s your most memorable.
My most memorable would have to be my Gramma making me s’mores… she couldn’t cook to save her life so it was extra special. A very fond memory of mine even if she did make it in the microwave lol. However if we’re talking more recently, I have a slight obsession with an apple pie recipe I use yearly.
I just had an amazing dessert at Big Bowl…the Banana Casher Eggroll was fantastic!
MMMMM chocolate. My wedding cake was the same cake we had for every special occasion growing up. Chocolate cake with vanilla pudding, strawberries and bananas as the filling. Great, now I’m hungry:)
I would have to say the blondie from Applebee’s has been the most amazing dessert I’ve ever had at a restaurant. So amazing that I scoured the internet for a recipe and now make it at home so I don’t have to go to Applebee’s anymore!
Okay, I was six and just diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. My mom, the awesome cake decorator that she was, somehow managed to make me a sugarless cake in the form of the Little Mermaid complete with red hair and tasty green fins 🙂
The most memorable dessert I had was during our honeymoon in Italy. It was a chocolate dessert that combined different temperatures and textures, it was just amazing.
This looks fantastic. I have seen the one from Serendipity on TV; it is good to know I can get it in my own kitchen instead of having to fly to New York.
We didn’t eat dessert a lot when I was a little kid, but on occasion, my grandmother would give each of us a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a little drizzle of bright green creme de menthe on top. She’d serve mine in a little stemed dessert glass, which always made me feel very sophisticated. I loved how it felt warm and cool in my mouth at the same time. It’s nothing I’d imagine eating today, but I’ll always have the fondest memories of sharing that dessert with my grandmother.