The Covered Dish: Mocha Mix

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By: Debbie Dance Uhrig

A few weeks back I was pondering a new recipe for mocha.  My original thought was to steam milk/cream and make this fabulous hot drink.  Then, reality set in.

While I was mulling everything over in my mind I realized guests may love it, but if it’s too much hassle they’ll never make it.  Thus the reason why I designed a dry mocha mix.

One of the things that inspired me to write this new recipe was football season!

Filling a thermos with mocha will be such a treat while sitting on cold bleacher seats!  Not to mention it will save you quite a bit of petty cash.  Specialty drinks are outrageous these days running anywhere from $4-$8 a cup.  I know how a club could make a good amount of profit?  Yep, make & serve this mix during the football play-offs!   Just in case you need more ideas I’ll tell you that our school district organizations sell large glasses of ice tea for $3.00 at home games.

One thing I have noticed over the years with instant coffee products is they will frequently say 2 tablespoons to 6-8 ounces of water.  Ug, this is like drinking skim milk with just a spot of chocolate.  Weak, and very tasteless.  Almost always I end up doing 3-4 tablespoons of the mix to the mug.  Since my readers haven’t tasted this product here’s something I might recommend.  Make only half the batch to start.  Stop, and make yourself a 4 ounce serving.  Ask yourself if it was chocolatey enough, then was it sweet enough and lastly did it have your desired level of coffee or espresso.   Then with your likes and dislikes noted make the 2nd half of the mix to your specifications.

Powdered Milk amounts:  You will notice that I use only 1/3 cup of dry powdered milk.  Powdered Milk is the most expensive item on the ingredient list.  One friend asked if they couldn’t just implement all coffee creamer.  I think this would be a great idea, however I have not done it yet.  Do keep in mind that powdered milk will keep forever in the deep freeze.  And you could make this mix with a friend and share the cost of the powdered milk.

Instant Coffee:  I used instant espresso which was a little more expensive than instant coffee.  When research was reviewed on instant coffees, Taster’s Choice had the best reviews.  Also consider making this mix with decaffeinated instant coffee.  That would help when you drink the beverage at night.

Cornstarch:  I used this to slightly thicken the mocha.  You could use arrowroot which is healthier.  If I were re-writing my recipe I think I might enjoy this with an additional tablespoon of the thickening agent.

Powdered Sugar:  The dissolve of the powdered sugar is much smoother than granulated sugar.  You could certainly switch this out if desired.

Cocoa:  My preference for cocoa would be Dutch chocolate, but it is not very easy to locate.  I’ve been using regular dry cocoa from the baking aisle.

On Arkansas television this past week I demonstrated three different ways to package the mix.  First I purchased gold ‘to go’ boxes and put 1 cup of mix in a Ziploc bag inside.  It was dressed up with a seasonal ribbon and recipe tag.  In another spot I filled a pint jar with the mix.  Lastly the mix was placed inside a mug with a peppermint stick.  These would be simple yet enjoyable gifts for the office, Sunday school teachers, neighbors and friends.

Halloween is almost here, gather the ingredients and make a few special gifts for October 31st!   Or use them as hostess gifts during the holiday season!  Another nice idea is to fill a basket with 1 cup portions and give them to anyone who visits your home during the holidays.  The kids can easily get involved on the creative end of this project.  It will also give them plenty of opportunities to work on math and fractions as they triple and quad the recipe!

Next week I can hardly wait to bring you my Apple Kuchen recipe.  It is simply delicious and would go fantastic with a cup of homemade mocha.  Simply yours, The Covered Dish.  www.thecovereddish.com.

Dry Mocha Mix

1/2      cup cocoa

1/3      cup dry powdered milk

1 1/4   cups powdered sugar

1           cup + 3 tablespoons dry coffee creamer

1/4       cup + 3 tablespoons instant coffee or espresso

1/4       teaspoon salt

2           tablespoons cornstarch

 

Combine all dry ingredients.  Store in air-tight container.

Mix 4 tablespoon mocha mix to 8 ounces boiling water.

Stir to blend.  Garnish with puff of whipped topping.

Yields:  10 servings or 3 1/8 cups dry mix.

Approximate cost:  $4.75

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