Now that I have your attention, I want to tell you about the best hot chocolate that I have ever had. Jennifer and I were in Tallinn, Estonia, not too long ago, and, in an attempt to avoid the snow that was starting to fall, we wandered in to the "Cafe Chocolaterie". It was a quaint little place in old town that reminded me of what I always pictured Professor Trelawney's classroom to look like. The felt tablecloths, tassels, many candles, in a quiet and secluded area, it just felt mysterious. All that was needed were the crystal balls.
Now, I had been here once before, but I am not sure if they have changed their recipe, or it was just the company that made this a perfect glass of hot chocolate. As you can see from the picture, they first swirl melted chocolate along the inside of the glass, before adding their chocolate-y, creamy goodness. To top it all off, they give you a cinnamon stick to use as a swizzle stick. The best thing to do was to scrape some of the chocolate off the side and suck on the cinnamon stick, giving you a taste of all three components: melted chocolate, the hot chocolate liquid, and the cinnamon.
Now, they also had an assortment of truffles and cakes, one of which I tried. This was the richest, most powerful chocolate cake that I had ever tasted. It was a multi-level cake, held together with a chocolate frosting, and coated with a very shiny chocolate couverture. Halfway through I was ready to swear off chocolate for a week. Of course, right after I was done with that, I finished the cake.
