Atole with Chocolate. 8″ x 8″ gouache and watercolor pencil. Sharyn Dimmick.
Because it is April 15 and I am still working on a giant art inventory for my tax returns I’m giving you a quick and easy recipe for atole with chocolate, good for those chilly mornings or chilly evenings of spring. I made it for the first time on a cold April morning of 2010 when we had had a bag of masa harina sitting around for a year or two and Jacqueline Higuera McMahan had published a recipe for atole in the San Francisco Chronicle. McMahan’s recipe called for added cornstarch, but I think the masa thickens it adequately by itself.
The first time I made this I used a Oaxaca chocolate bar containing chilies. Later I made it with Sharffen Berger bittersweet and added some pasilla chile powder. You can make it without chile if you don’t like the kick.
Atole makes a good, warming breakfast drink, a heavier form of hot chocolate. It would be good to serve at a holiday party. I’ve thought of adding more masa and thickening it into a pudding, but I haven’t tried that yet.
Atole with Chocolate (4 Servings)
Film a large saucepan with water
Heat over medium heat 1 quart of milk
Add:
5 oz. chopped chocolate
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup masa harina
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla bean, split open.
a pinch of salt, if desired
powdered chiles to taste
Whisk this until the chocolate melts, until everything blends and until it thickens to your liking. You will need to cook it for at least five minutes to cook the masa, which will expand as it cooks. Fish the vanilla bean and cinnamon stick out before serving, or just push them to the side with your serving ladle so that they continue to flavor whatever you don’t drink immediately.
Food Notes: Masa harina is the flour Mexicans use to make corn tortillas. Look for it in your Mexican grocer or online. If you find this too sweet, add cocoa powder to a small portion and add it back into the pan, or add some bitter chocolate or some brewed coffee. Next time use a darker chocolate or scant the sugar to achieve less sweet results. I’ve been thinking about using a tablet of Mexican chocolate to make it next time with some bitter chocolate added. For the ultimate in decadence, serve it with a float of barely sweetened whipped cream. Drink this for breakfast and you may even have the strength to complete your tax returns on time. Good luck! We have two extra days this year.
thekalechronicles 
So often, Sharyn, I come here and you teach me something. Today was no different. So much of this post — except the taxes — was new to me but you explained everything, and then some. Thank you & I hope the next 2 days aren’t too stressful for you.
Thank you, John. I am hoping to finish my federal return by this evening. Then the state. Then I’ll start celebrating and cooking again.
Yummmm! I can’t help but think of Kakawa in Santa Fe and those chocolate drinks they serve. I”ll try it with the masa. It would be a very fancy porridge, too…more please.
Thanks for visiting, Laura. I guess I should put a gluten-free tag on it…
I hope you keep yourself smiling my friend and go with the flow is the best way to deal with work 🙂
Great recipe to relax with and delicious too 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks, CCU. I’m taking a forbidden break to answer comments, but I’ll get through it — and on time, too — I do not pay penalties.
This seems to be a uniquely decadent variation on the theme for any chocoholic (guilty as charged)… part of me wants to try, part of me fears getting hooked. We’ll see who wins! Happy tax return and have a great week.
Hi Granny. I’m not a chocoholic, so I only make this about once a year — usually in April when it is chilly. I am not an accountant either, which is why I am still preparing my art inventory.
Sounds very comforting with lots of exotic ingredients! I love Chilli and chocolate.that a great combination 🙂 have you seen the film Chocolat? I love it and this reminds me of one of their chocolate remedies. Hope you’re tax return is quick and painless!
Thanks, Lauren. I have seen “Chocolat.” My tax return is insane, due to the way that painting inventories do not correspond to the categories on our Schedule C. I just do the best I can and write lots of notes to the IRS. Almost done with that part.
I think we just ought to go to flat tax and get on with our lives. Actually I believe I read that taxes were initiated originally for stated period of time and are illegal at this point. Let’s riot – I’ll design the signs 🙂
I don’t object to paying taxes. I object to the fact that the forms are incomprehensible once you get past a simple return for an individual with one employer.
Oh, bother.. those dratted tax returns.. wishing you god speed on those and I’m picturing you sipping on this lovely chocolate concoction whilst calculating!! xoxo This looks like a drink I’ve got to try.. I’ll need to find that flour first though!
Masa harina makes a slightly thickened hot chocolate, Smidge. It is common in Mexican markets. Thanks for your good wishes — I’m making progress.
I wouldn’t have had any idea about the masa harina in a drink…it’s an unexpected thickening agent. I love chocolate in any form, I think, but this sounds warm and comforting. Good luck with getting those taxes done…such an unpleasant task! Good for you for still getting a post up! And a painting! Debra
I copied the post from a cookbook I made a few years back and the photo of the painting was in my computer — not so hard. And the taxes are coming along — I shall get up early to work on them again tomorrow.
Usch, taxes! It’s not so bad here… (of course, not as easy as England where you’re taxed immediately from your salary and don’t have to worry about it), but here you can sign up to pay 1/10th of what the govt. predicts your taxes will be based on previous years, over 10 months, and when it’s time for taxes, they even send you pre-filled out forms, based on previous information, so if nothing has changed there’s nothing to fill. They’ve finally moved into the 21st century where you can file the statement online too – yay 😀
Hi Charles. The problem here is that if you produce anything that you sell (in my case music CDs and paintings) they expect you to understand complicated cost accounting or to pay someone else who understands it. I’ve done my own tax returns my entire working life and they get harder and harder to do. What I think we need is a simplified set of tax forms for artists! What I do is do my best and write out explanations of what I have done. We can file online, but I don’t.
I hope the warming chocolate gives you the strength to fill in those Tax returns, goodness knows you need it for the Tax Man!
Thank you, Claire. It will be over soon — at least for this year.
You said this was simple but I say it sounds simply divine…
Delicious!
Thank you, Shira.
I’ve never heard of this Sharyn, but I love spicy chocolate; I almost always put a dash of cayenne into anything I make that’s chocolate.
Good luck with the taxes! We’ve done ours and I’ve already gotten my refund! Woohoo’
I finished them, Eva, and mailed them this afternoon. The art cost inventory was really funky, but I had to give them something. It looks like I will get a refund, too, which I wasn’t expecting but I certainly could use! Atole is something they drink in Mexico, with or without the chocolate.
Yum. Chocolate on tax day. Great motivator!
I’m done, I’m done! (Except for putting a few things away). So I guess it worked.
So glad you made your way through taxes! The hot chocolate season certainly has been extended this year in California. I must say that I had no idea that masa harina was in atole. Cool information. Thanks for sharing one of your specialties.
Yes. It’s another cool gray morning here in Kensington. As for taxes, every year I learn something — mostly about what I don’t know yet.
With chocolate, anything is possible!
In that case, I must ingest some more immediately…
I love this post, and have never cooked with masa harina (except for making tortillas once, I think). Now … to find it in London!
I don’t cook with it much either, Susan (Mom bought it by mistake). You can use it to make tamales if you are so inclined, but I don’t like tamales.