This Mexican chocolate horchata is the perfect drink to cool down this summer. The traditional combination of soaked rice and milk is given an upgrade with this artisanal Mexican chocolate tablillas from Hernan.
What is Horchata?
Horchata is a traditional Mexican agua fresca that actually originated in Spain. In Spain this refreshing drink is made with chufa nuts (which are not actually nuts but a tuber). When the Spanish conquistadores came to Mexico they brought with them the recipe for horchata, but seeing as chufa nuts are not native to Mexico they began using rice.
How do you make horchata?
Horchata is commonly made by soaking rice, cinnamon, and sometimes almonds in water overnight. Some recipes call for boiling the rice with the cinnamon then letting it soak, but I prefer to pour boiling water over the rice, cinnamon, and in this case chocolate then letting it rest overnight. The following day the mixture is blended, strained, then milk and sugar are added to it.
Hernan Mexican Chocolate Tablillas
For this recipe, I used my favorite Mexican hot chocolate: Hernán. Hernán is the real deal, real, authentic, Mexican chocolate sourced from Chiapas, and ground with sugar and cinnamon. In fact, the cacao used to make Hernan Mexican hot chocolate is organic and from a bio diversified plantation! The chocolate comes in three presentations tablillas (squares), skulls (which make an amazing gift since they are sold in small brightly colored hand woven palm leaf baskets), and small balls.
The Recipe: Mexican Chocolate Horchata
- If Hernan chocolate is not immediately available to you, you can use Ibarra chocolate which is readily available in most grocery stores and is also vegan.
- You can use the sweetener of your preference agave, coconut sugar, maple syrup, etc
- Make sure to strain twice for a really smooth horchata.
- Serve over ice and enjoy!!
Chocolate Horchata
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rice, long grain
- 3 cups Water
- 2 Hernan Mexican chocolate tablillas (2.6 oz)
- ½ cup Sugar,
- 1 stick Ceylon cinnamon (2 inch long)
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups Soy, unsweetened (or your favorite plant milk)
Instructions
- In a heat resistant container, combine the rice, Mexican chocolate tablillas, and cinnamon.
- In a medium pot, bring the 3 cups of water to a boil. Pour over the rice and refrigerate overnight.
- The following day blend the mixture until smooth and strain through a fine mesh strainer.
- Add the vanilla, sugar, and soy milk and blend again until smooth.
- Strain through a cheesecloth or nut bag.
- Serve over ice and sprinkle with ground cinnamon. Enjoy!
Hi I have not tried this yet but I'm wondering how to make this without chocolate. Just omit it?
Yes, you can just omit the chococolate
So delicious, thank you! I've been missing horchata since I moved to the countryside and there's nowhere to get it here. Chocolate is a delicious addition :)
Yum! Sounds perfect for this summer
Can I use ground cacoa for this recipe? If so how much? Thanks
Yes, you can use 2 tbsp. of cocoa powder