Jacques Torres' Milk Steaming Tip For The Most Velvety Hot Chocolate

It's hard to say no to a comforting mug of hot chocolate, but some cups taste better than others. The recipe for this fan favorite is just too versatile, so it can take on a myriad of tastes and textures, from bitter to sweet, to thin or robust. 

French chocolatier Jacques Torres is an expert in all things chocolate, and the accomplished chef shared a tip on his YouTube channel to ensure a beautifully rich batch of hot chocolate every time. For the best batch of this chocolatey drink, Torres suggests that you steam your milk twice. Just like double-frying potatoes makes for extra-crispy and golden fries, boiling your hot chocolate twice makes for an extra intense cup of this classic, velvety indulgence.

To try out this trick yourself, steam your milk as normal. Then, after the milk is steamed, add in your chocolate sauce or powder and let it melt. Now steam this drink again and get ready for an extra cohesive and thick cup of hot chocolate. The second steam is the crucial step as that's what gives your cocoa an extra-rich texture.

When you steam milk, you're both heating it and infusing it with air bubbles. As that air is introduced to the milk, the proteins within the milk expand, making for a much thicker liquid as all those molecules come together and condense. The milk sugar, or lactose, also releases in those high temperatures, uncovering the innate sweetness that hides inside this beloved dairy drink. 

Now if you don't have a steamer, there are plenty of affordable steamer choices for your home cafe, but boiling your milk in a pot works just as well. If you prefer yet another method, one technique you could try is shaking up milk in a jam jar until frothy, then microwaving it for 30 seconds to heat it. Going through this process just once already makes for the ultimate cup of hot cocoa, but doing it twice makes for a truly heavenly cup — so don't be afraid to add the extra step.

Another hot chocolate tip Jacques Torres swears by is using a very particular ratio of hot cocoa powder to milk. Torres opts for 1/2 a cup of powder for every 1 cup of milk, which makes for a balanced infusion of chocolate and milk.

To further ensure you've got the best cocoa around, always use milk with a high-fat percentage so the steamer has more fat and lactose to extract and convert into that sweet microfoam. Whole-fat milk is a good choice, as is 2% milk, which is also Torres's milk of choice for his hot chocolate. 

Lastly, to really take your hot chocolate to the next level, add a pinch of salt to the mix. Certain flavor receptors in our mouths can only be activated using salt, so adding salt to sweet drinks ensures you are using as many of your tastebuds as possible to enjoy the treat. With all these tips in mind, your hot chocolate will surely be an extra-silky cup of bliss.