CHOCOLATE ORANGE CHAI

It's officially Autumn and it's chiiiilllly! Lindt sent over their new chocolate orange Lindor and I tucked into the box this weekend to come up with a cosy recipe for the blog. If you have enough restraint not to scoff the whole box in one go, then this drink is a winner...if I do say so myself ;)



I love hot chocolate and I love chai tea and this recipe combines the best of both. Chai is a such a winter warmer, full of immune-boosting spices, while I'm sure hot chocolate is exactly what was in mind when the phrase 'a hug in a mug was coined'. Put them together and it's pure Christmas in a mug (sorry for bringing up the C word, but I've been working on Christmas in my day job since July and I still can't get enough of it!).

Not knowing the first thing about making chai, I followed Freya's recipe to the letter - a cinnamon stick, ginger, cardamom pods, black peppercorns, cloves and tea, steeped in a mug of milk and half a mug of water in a small saucepan. I did, however, leave out the sugar as the chocolate adds enough sweetness. For the single serving Freya has given the quantities for, I added two chocolates (naughty!).

After gently steaming for 15 minutes, I added the Lindor truffles. You can pop them on the end of a skewer and gently stir until they dissolve, or you can just put them straight in the saucepan and they will melt into the chai. For children, it would be fun to strain the tea into a large mug and then let them stir the chocolate in themselves.