This vanilla hot chocolate tastes like a warm cup of vanilla ice cream! It’s super creamy, comforting, perfectly sweet and with an intense vanilla flavor and to add an extra touch of indulgence some vanilla cold foam. This makes for a wonderful cozy holiday drink. 

The flavor is queen in this recipe. It is made with the best vanilla beans from “Vanilla Dream” which gives you can amazing intense vanilla flavor without having to use a lot. The secret really is to use a really good quality vanilla. 

I’ve been using this vanilla from Vanilla dream professionally and personally for years! And I am such a fan of it. You can’t beat the quality.

This recipe is a hot chocolate drink that is made with a vanilla white chocolate ganache. It is simply a different take to a classic hot chocolate that is made with either dark or milk chocolate. Because the base is made with an intense vanilla ganache it gives it a super creamy flavor and texture. The sweetness comes from the white chocolate so it doesn’t need any extra sirup or sweetener. 

This vanilla hot chocolate is made with a vanilla cold foam on top which adds an extra creamy topping. You can also leave it out and it will still tastes delicious. 

Rich and creamy: because of the ganache base you get a super rich flavor and smooth, creamy texture

Intense vanilla flavor: you get a very intense vanilla flavor when using good quality vanilla. The flavor is simply AMAZING! And you get a very slight “crunch” from the vanilla beans

It’s easy to make: it really is simple ;) you can also make the ganache in advance and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks and just use it when you want to make this drink

You can customize it: easiest way is to switch the milk you want to use. Using coconut milk or even doing half coconut milk/cream and half of cows milk for example will give you a wonderful flavor combination. Add in some almond paste and you have yourself a “raffaello” inspired hot chocolate

You can easily add some spice to the ganache such as cinnamon, tonka bean or cardamom or even add it to the cold foam. You can play around with the base recipe and create something of your own flavor preference.

Vanilla: let’s start with the star of the show…vanilla! And you will need a REALLY good quality vanilla for this drink. It makes all the difference. I use vanilla from the brand called “Vanilla Dream” from Switzerland, truly the best! 😍

Milk or milk alternative: any milk of your choice will work in this recipe. For both the hot chocolate drink and for the cold foam

White chocolate: make sure to use a good quality white chocolate. You will notice the difference. I use white chocolate from  “Felchlin” or from “Cailler”  both a Swiss chocolate brand 

Cream: I use full fat cream in this recipe that has 35% fat. For both the ganache and for the cold foam

Glucose sirup: adding glucose sirup to the ganache makes for a smoother texture but you can also leave it out 

Sea salt: adding a pinch of sea salt to the hot chocolate gives the perfect balance to the sweetness of the white chocolate. I definitely recommend adding it

Butter: butter in the ganache adds creaminess and a smooth texture

Powdered sugar: this just adds sweetness to the cold foam. Powdered sugar will dissolve much better in the cold foam than granulated sugar, but feel free to also leave it out

I don’t drink hot chocolates often. Normally only in winter time when I crave that really cozy warm drink and when I do I like that have one that has really good flavor like this vanilla one. Even if it’s a simple milk or dark hot chocolate I want it to be made with really good quality chocolate. 

I highly recommend saving this recipe for your next hot chocolate!