Xocolata desfeta

Ingredients

Chocolate

• 200 gdark chocolate, 70% cocoa, finely chopped
• 600 mlwhole milk
• 40 gcaster sugar, to taste
• 15 gcornflour
• 1 pinchof fine salt
• 0.5 tspground cinnamon, optional
• 1wide strip of orange peel, optional

To serve

• 8xurros or a plate of bunyols, freshly fried
• 4thick cups or small bowls, warmed

Directions

1. Set aside 60 ml of the cold milk and slake the cornflour into it until perfectly smooth, with no lumps.
2. Warm the remaining milk with the sugar, salt, cinnamon and orange peel in a heavy pan over medium-low heat until it steams, then take it off and let the peel infuse 5 minutes.
3. Lift out the peel, return the pan to low heat and add the chopped chocolate in three lots, whisking each addition until it has completely melted before adding the next.
4. Whisk in the slaked cornflour in a thin stream, keeping the whisk moving.
5. Cook 4–6 minutes over low heat, whisking constantly and scraping the base, until the chocolate thickens visibly and just begins to blip; the starch needs to reach a bubble to lose its raw taste.
6. Test the body: drag a spoon through and the trail should hold for a second, and a xurro pushed upright into the cup should stand alone. If it is thin, slake another teaspoon of cornflour and cook 2 minutes more.
7. Take off the heat and beat hard for 20 seconds with the whisk or a wooden molinillo to put a light foam on the surface.
8. Pour into warmed cups and serve immediately, with hot xurros for dunking, before a skin forms.

Technique

• This is drinking chocolate in the Iberian sense, thickened with starch to the consistency of pouring custard. It is a spoon-and-dunk drink, not a mug of cocoa, and it is meant to be eaten as much as drunk.
• Use real chocolate, not cocoa powder. The cocoa butter is what gives the gloss and the mouth-coating body; cocoa powder alone gives a thin, dusty drink.
• Keep the heat low once the chocolate is in. Boiled hard, the mixture separates into grains and a slick of fat on top, and no amount of whisking brings it back.

Substitutions

• Rice flour, 20 g, replaces the cornflour for the older, slightly grainier Catalan texture.
• Any milk works, and oat or almond milk sets almost as thickly; add 10 g extra chocolate to make up the lost richness.

Variations

• Xocolata amb xurros, the standard winter breakfast and after-skiing order in Andorra.
• A la pedra, made with the old stone-ground tablet chocolate that already contains cinnamon and a little flour.
• Suissa, the same chocolate crowned with a mound of unsweetened whipped cream.

History

Catalan-style hot chocolate long served in Andorran cafés, a legacy of Barcelona’s colonial cocoa trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is Xocolata desfeta?

Xocolata desfeta is a drink from Andorra: thick drinking chocolate, spoon-standing dense, dunked with fried pastry. Catalan-style hot chocolate long served in Andorran cafés, a legacy of Barcelona’s colonial cocoa trade.

How long does Xocolata desfeta take to make?

Xocolata desfeta takes 10 min of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Xocolata desfeta?

Yes, within limits. Rice flour, 20 g, replaces the cornflour for the older, slightly grainier Catalan texture. Any milk works, and oat or almond milk sets almost as thickly; add 10 g extra chocolate to make up the lost richness.