The secret to the perfect hot chocolate – plus five of Melbourne’s best

With temperatures dipping into the single digits lately, there’s no better time for warming cups of dark, velvety hot chocolate.

In NSW and Victoria, two hot chocolates have captured the attention of the social media majority: the deliciously thick chocolat chaud at Manon Brasserie in Sydney, and the caramel-flavoured hot chocolate at Pidapipo Laboratorio in Fitzroy.

After Manon’s hot chocolate soared to social media stardom last October, it became so popular the kitchen had to invest in new equipment and processes to manage the demand. Even now, some eight months later, the restaurant sells close to 100 litres of hot chocolate each week.

“We were all super shocked,” says group executive chef Rob Crichton of the response.

“I think it became so popular because of how different and rich the chocolate is. We use the highest grade [Valrhona] chocolate, which is the chocolate of choice for patissiers and chocolate-makers.”

To make Manon’s chocolat chaud, Crichton heats a 50:50 mixture of pure cream and full-fat milk in a saucepan with a pinch of brown (turbinado) sugar. Once it reaches a simmer, he removes it from the heat and blends in the chocolate with an electric stick mixer.

It’s poured tableside, alongside a dish of whipped cream, for a theatrical touch.

Crichton says the secret to recreating his French-style hot chocolate at home is using high-quality dark chocolate, with 60 to 70 per cent cocoa.

“Don’t use milk chocolate because you’re going to be adding milk and cream anyway,” he says.

“And be careful to only reheat it at a very low temperature, otherwise it will burn.”

The hot chocolate at Pidapipo Laboratorio is a comparatively newer find, with its eye-catching gooey snowball of marshmallows and fior di latte ice-cream.

“Compared to a normal hot chocolate, it’s slightly thicker and it doesn’t have that sweet, milky flavour,” says head of production Nicola Totaro, the brains behind the viral winter beverage.

“It’s actually quite a complex flavour, due to the caramel and the darkness of the chocolate, and as soon as your palate requires a different flavour you’re hit with the softness of the marshmallow, the coldness of the gelato and the crunch from the hazelnut.”

Pidapipo’s recipe uses Victorian-produced Sungold jersey milk (chosen for its creamier texture), dark chocolate with 55 per cent cocoa, pure cream and house-made caramel.

Small white marshmallows are then folded into the house-made fior di latte gelato before being dropped into the hot cup.

“I wanted to create something you can’t find anywhere else,” Totaro says. “It’s more like a dessert than just a sweet drink.”

For those attempting to make a similar drink at home, Totaro also advises using the highest-quality dark chocolate you can find (and steering clear of premade chocolate powder).

He recommends heating the milk and cream mixture – “in the microwave is fine!” – before pouring it over the chocolate and stirring it in with a spoon. The ideal ratio of milk and cream to chocolate is around 70:30.

“If you want to take it to the next level you can make your own caramel, otherwise a spoonful of dark brown sugar will work,” Totaro says.

Five of Melbourne’s best hot chocolates

Pidapipo Laboratorio

The flagship Fitzroy ice-cream lab with a Wonka-esque devotion to creating weird-and-wonderful queue-worthy concoctions has done it again with this hot chocolate. With a scoop of fior di latte and marshmallow gelato, topped with caramelised hazelnut croccante, this is part drink, part dessert and all-out decadent.

pidapipo.com/laboratorio @pidapipo_gelateria

Mork Chocolate

While its North Melbourne Brew House might be Melbourne’s hot choc headquarters, Mork has recently opened its third shop, in the atmospheric Dairy Product Hall at the Queen Victoria Market. Sidle up to the marble-topped bar for your wonderfully warming hot chocolate of choice topped with pillowy marshmallows, all torched to order. You might want to grab a freshly baked cinnamon bun or pastry to dunk into it, too.

morkchocolate.com.au @morkchocolate

Black Star Pastry

The cult cake shop – with outposts in St Kilda, the CBD and Chadstone – has turned one of its most popular creations, the Chocolate Mirage cake, into liquid form to create a smooth butterscotch-flavoured hot chocolate unlike any you’ve sipped before. The secret? Rooibos tea mixed with caramel and hazelnut syrup and signature chocolate powder, swirled into hazelnut milk and dusted with chocolate and gold to resemble the garnish of the cake. File under ‘fancy’.

blackstarpastry.com @blackstarpastry

Koko Black

Go loco for the hot cocoa (and take some time out from the city madness) at Koko Black’s flagship Royal Arcade store, where they serve a rich and velvety blend of Belgian dark chocolate, cream and milk brewed for more than two hours for extra creaminess. There’s also mocha, orange, salted caramel and chilli varieties. Available to-go from the cute kiosk on Swanston Street, too.

kokoblack.com @kokoblackchocolate

Riverland

The OG Yarra riverside bar tucked below Federation Square may be mostly outdoors, but they have just the thing (or two) to warm you up: hot boozy Milo. Dark rum is combined with Milo, maple syrup, oat milk and cream for a warm, heady hit with notes of childhood nostalgia. There’s also a boozy Biscoff with brandy if the cinnamon-y biscuit is more your jam.

riverlandbar.com, @riverlandbar