Lesli's Bake Shop and Sweets

So, my very first post about baking has absolutely nothing to do with baking. This is due mainly to bad planning on my part and for which I apologize greatly. However, in order to incorporate it into my original "Bake Shop" idea, I have added "and sweets" to the title to make it work! That's what we do here at "What's Bippin?", we make it work! Did Tim Gun trademark that phrase? Hope we don't get sued.

Anyway, I am excited to feature the oh-so delicious Red Velvet Hot Chocolate with Cream Cheese Whipped Cream! A nice twist on traditional hot cocoa and perfect for the cold weather during these winter months. Brrrr... Besides, how can you go wrong with anything red velvet? I mean, really! And on that note, God bless the South for this creation and damn them too! They are the ones responsible for red velvet, right? 

I should start off by saying this recipe was stolen from another blog (give credit where credit is due) and you can see it HERE.

What appealed me to her version was how minimal the ingredients were (I had all but 1 ingredient already!) and how quick and easy it seemed. I've said it before, I'll say it again, the "What's Bippin?" team loves "easy"!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups
 Whole Milk

• 1 dash
 Water

• ¾ cups
 Premium Of Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

• 1 teaspoon
 Red Food Coloring

• 1 cup
 Heavy Whipping Cream

• 1 Tablespoon
 Sugar

• 1 teaspoon
 Whipped Cream Cheese

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat. 

Add a splash of water and the chocolate chips, constantly stirring gently. 

When almost melted, add the red food coloring paste and stir some more. 

The color should be a deep red, similar to the picture above.

 When the chocolate chips are all melted, pour the hot chocolate in four mugs and top with the whipped cream.

Preparation Instructions:

In a medium mixing bowl or a stand-up mixer, pour in heavy whipping cream and sugar. Whip on medium with the whisk attachment for 2-3 minutes. Just before it peaks, add the teaspoon of whipped cream cheese and whisk for another 2 minutes. Taste the whipped cream and add more cream cheese to taste. If you like it more tart, I’d say add another 1/2 teaspoon, just be careful to not over-whip or you’ll have butter on your hands in no time.

Following her measurements gave us about 3 full cups. You can maybe stretch 4 by not filling them up all the way, but really I would probably just suggest you add one more cup of milk, make the 3/4 cup of chocolate chips a full cup and add a bigger "splash" of water. I will most likely be trying it that way next time. Another tweak I did was top the cups off with marshmallows right be serving for an added sweetness. We piled those babies sky high and just let those calories roll... or become rolls, whatever, it's delicious, drink it up, who cares, enjoy!

Voila! Easy peezy! All you need now is a good movie, a cozy blanket and someone to snuggle close to.

Love,

Lesli