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Author:
Franco Salzillo
White chocolate mocha, these might be the sweetest three words you can hear. And the Starbucks version might be their most decadent expression. Yes, big coffee shop chains do some things right, sometimes, but that shouldn’t stop us from crafting our version at home.
The challenge behind making an accurate white chocolate mocha at home is the white chocolate. Regular chocolate syrup is readily available, but the white version is harder to find.
Starbucks uses its white chocolate sauce, which is basically condensed milk, coconut oil and cocoa butter, and although you can buy white chocolate sauce, even from Starbucks, wouldn’t it be nice to make your own? It’s totally all right if you just want to use store bought white chocolate sauce, simply combine a few tablespoons with the milk as if you were making yourself a glass of chocolate milk, and you’ll be just fine.
We’re melting white baking chocolate chips into a cup of creamy half and half for the base of our white chocolate mocha. Please use real white chocolate, get it from a bakery supply store. The result is a white chocolate cream with no flavoring or additives—pure, all-natural, chocolatey bliss. We’re making it frothy too!
Pour your milk over a proper espresso shot and top with whipped cream if desired. The result will surprise you; for me, it’s as good or better than the real thing.
There’s one more thing to consider, though. Although the chocolate is sweet, we’re just adding three tablespoons of it, which is enough to add flavor, but you might want to adjust the sweetness to your liking with your favorite sweetener. Keep in mind that choosing to top your coffee with sweet whipped cream will also help.
You can also make your mocha stronger with a double shot of espresso, you know the drill, just like you would order it at the coffee shop counter.
To make the also famous toasted white chocolate mocha, which has a beautiful golden color, I recommend drizzling a few teaspoons of caramel sauce to your milk. Trust me, trying to caramelize white chocolate requires too much patience.
Having covered all the basics, we’re ready to make ourselves a mug of white chocolate mocha Starbucks-style. Let’s do it!
Place a pot with water over medium flame, and a smaller bowl inside it to make a bain-marie.
Add the half and half and the chocolate chips and stir until melted
With a milk whisk or a hand blender whip your milk until frothy.
Make a shot of espresso and pour it into your mug or glass.
Layer the milk and chocolate over the espresso
Top with whipped cream
