6/21/2017

Mason Jar Lattes - Gingered Dark Chocolate Mocha

by Dana on 6/21/2017

Dana here. Time for another coffee recipe! Because who doesn't like choices? My gingered dark chocolate mocha is one of my all time favorites. Mmmmm, it's dark and complicated and a little spicy...wait, am I talking about coffee or a fictional romantic interest? Well, I did first feature this recipe on my own blog when I reviewed Hell's Teeth by James Fahy, and that description definitely fits a character in the book called Alessandro. Spoiler alert: he's a vampire and he's as delicious as this drink. 😈

Gingered Dark Chocolate Syrup
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/8 of a teaspoon salt
1/2 ounce ginger root, grated or sliced very thinly
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Drop all the ingredients except the vanilla extract into a small saucepot. Stir occasionally and cook over medium heat until it starts to bubble. This shouldn't take more than about five or ten minutes. Make sure all the sugar is dissolved and then remove from the heat. Let sit for fifteen to twenty minutes to allow the flavor of the ginger to really infuse into the syrup. Then add vanilla extract and stir to combine. You can strain the mixture now if you want, but I leave my ginger bits in so that they can continue to give off flavor. You'll just have to either avoid or deal with ginger bits down the road if you do this. You can then use the syrup to flavor your coffee, make hot chocolate, drizzle over ice cream, eat it off the spoon...hey, no judgement. What you do with your syrup is your business. And it can be stored in a glass jar in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Enjoy!

I only used half an ounce of ginger, which creates a syrup that has a undertone of gingery spiciness when I add just a tablespoon of it to my morning cuppa. If you weren't paying attention, you might not notice it, so use more if you want a stronger flavor.

Also, I haven't tried this with ginger powder, so I'm afraid I don't know exactly how that conversion works. A quick Google search, however, recommends about 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger to 1 tablespoon of fresh. I personally don't find that ground ginger has quite the same sharpness as fresh, but ground is certainly more convenient. Give it a try and see what you think.

Why did I tell you to add the vanilla at the end? In short, because too much heat will kill your vanilla flavor. A lot of recipes will have you wait until the last possible moment to add extracts to your dish, batter, whatever because extracts are rather more delicate than other flavor-giving ingredients. So don't get ahead of yourself when assembling your syrup. As Alton Brown would say, your patience will be rewarded.

Mmmmm, look at that chocolatey goodness. Don't mind the Dalek, he just wants his fix. Like I said, I only do a tablespoon, but you do up your mocha however you want. Oh, and for instructions on how to steam your milk in the microwave and the general latte recipe, you can find the original post here.

You can also find previous Mason Jar Latte recipes here: