Viennese-Style Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream (Heiße Schokolade Wiener Art)
Dark chocolate melted into hot milk with a little honey and cinnamon, poured into cups and capped with a big spoon of stiffly whipped cream, the way Austrian and German cafés serve it.
Chocolate came to Vienna from Spain with the Habsburgs. Die Welt der Habsburger, an educational site from the Schönbrunn Group, says Charles VI brought his Spanish court, "used to cocoa", to Vienna in 1711; by the middle of the century the imperial court spent about as much on chocolate as on beer, and Maria Theresa had her own chocolate-maker and a silver chocolate service. Chocolate was a breakfast drink, flavored with vanilla and cinnamon and served with bread and a glass of water, and was not sold as bars until the 19th century. Today German menus separate "Heiße Schokolade Wiener Art", made from melted chocolate and often topped with whipped cream, from "Trinkschokolade" made from powder.
Why it works the kitchen science
Cold cream on hot chocolate
Stiff, cold whipped cream floats and melts slowly into the top of the cup, so each sip is part hot chocolate, part cool cream.
52% chocolate
A sweeter dark chocolate means only a little honey is needed, and it stays smooth in milk without simmering.
Step by step
- Step 1
Whip the cold cream in a chilled bowl to stiff peaks, 2 to 3 minutes with a hand mixer. Refrigerate it while you make the chocolate.
- Step 2
Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until steaming, about 170°F, 5 to 6 minutes. Do not let it boil.
- Step 3
Turn the heat to low, add the chocolate pieces and whisk until they melt completely, about 2 minutes.
- Step 4
Whisk in the honey and cinnamon and keep it over low heat 1 minute more, until the cinnamon is evenly mixed and the chocolate is steaming again.
- Step 5
Pour into four cups or glasses, leaving about an inch of room at the top.
- Step 6
Spoon a tall cap of whipped cream onto each cup and serve right away, with a small glass of water on the side, as the Habsburg court did.
Viennese-Style Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream (Heiße Schokolade Wiener Art)
Serves 4 (about 1 cup each) · about 4 cups · 20 min total
Chocolate
- 3 1/4 cups (750 ml) whole milk
- 5 1/4 oz (150 g) dark chocolate, about 52% cacao, broken into pieces
- 2 1/2 tsp honey
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Topping
- Scant 1/2 cup (100 g) cold heavy whipping cream
Method
- Whip the cold cream in a chilled bowl to stiff peaks, 2 to 3 minutes with a hand mixer. Refrigerate it while you make the chocolate.
- Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until steaming, about 170°F, 5 to 6 minutes. Do not let it boil.
- Turn the heat to low, add the chocolate pieces and whisk until they melt completely, about 2 minutes.
- Whisk in the honey and cinnamon and keep it over low heat 1 minute more, until the cinnamon is evenly mixed and the chocolate is steaming again.
- Pour into four cups or glasses, leaving about an inch of room at the top.
- Spoon a tall cap of whipped cream onto each cup and serve right away, with a small glass of water on the side, as the Habsburg court did.
Adapted from the German food magazine LECKER (Bauer Media Group), "Heiße Schokolade mit Sahnehaube". The page gives no serving count; its 423 kcal per person matches 4 servings, so we call it 4. We convert 3/4 liter milk to 3 1/4 cups and 100 g cream to a scant 1/2 cup, and use 2 1/2 tsp honey from its 2 to 3. LECKER's method is one paragraph; the steps, timings and temperatures are ours. The glass of water on the side comes from the Habsburg history above. LECKER. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Whip the cream unsweetened; the honey in the chocolate is enough.
- For a spiced version, LECKER also publishes one with chopped red chiles.
- Serve it in glass mugs to show off the cream sitting on the dark chocolate.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Viennese hot chocolate has an egg yolk in it. Disputed: Wikipedia says the Viennese variant contains an egg yolk for thickness; LECKER's recipe and the German "Wiener Art" menus Wikipedia describes are defined by melted chocolate and whipped cream. Do not say all Viennese chocolate has egg.
- Chocolate came to Vienna with Charles VI's Spanish court in 1711. Documented per Die Welt der Habsburger, which says his court was "used to cocoa"; it does not say chocolate was unknown in Vienna before.
- "Wiener Art" means it comes from Vienna. Folklore: "Viennese style" is a German menu name for melted-chocolate hot chocolate (Wikipedia); we found no source tying a specific recipe to a Viennese café.
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