Date:    Thu, 14 Jul 94 13:25:12 EDT
From:    [email protected]

When I need a chocolate experience, I'll put together what I'm told is
an Italian-style hot cocoa.  I initially saw the recipe in the middle of
an article in The New Yorker, which went something like this.  (Sorry
that I don't know the by-weight equivalents.)

   Mix
       1/2 cup cocoa powder
       1/3 cup white sugar
       1 teaspoon cornstarch
   with
       1/4 cup water
   in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Once this
   mixture comes to a boil, add 2 cups of liquid (water, brewed coffee,
   skim milk; the author recommended a cup of water and skim milk each)
   and stir over heat until heated through and mixed.

This produces a thick, quite rich brew, not for children, but highly
chocolate-concentrated.  Clearly, it's pretty much just empty calories,
but not that much of them, and the fat is only what comes in your cocoa.