Gordon Ramsay’s hot chocolate is made with whole milk, double cream and a teaspoon of butter, stirred into cocoa powder for a thick, smooth mug. The recipe comes from Bread Street Kitchen and takes about 3 minutes from hob to mug.
Ramsay admits butter in hot chocolate sounds odd, but calls this recipe “particularly indulgent” and insists you try it. He has three completely different versions across Bread Street Kitchen, Ultimate Fit Food and The F Word. Each uses a different base liquid, which changes everything.
The rule across all three versions is temperature. Heat gently until almost boiling, then stop, because boiling breaks cocoa fat down and turns the texture grainy. I use this BSK version most since it needs five ingredients and no special equipment.
Gordon Ramsay’s Particularly Indulgent Hot Chocolate
Course: DrinksCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy1
1
minute2
minutes210
kcal3
minutesFrom Bread Street Kitchen, one of three Gordon Ramsay hot chocolate recipes compared across two cookbooks and The F Word. An everyday mug that costs about 45p at current Tesco prices.
Ingredients
100ml whole milk (3½ fl oz)
1 tbsp double cream
1 tsp butter
1 tbsp simple sugar syrup
2 tsp cocoa powder, preferably 80%
Directions
- Heat the milk: Put the milk, cream, butter and sugar syrup into a small saucepan. Cook gently for a few minutes, stirring, until almost boiling.
- Mix the cocoa: Put the cocoa powder into a mug and pour in the hot milk mixture. Stir well until thoroughly mixed, then serve immediately.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay add butter to his hot chocolate?
Fat carries chocolate flavour because cocoa’s taste compounds dissolve in fat, not water. Adding butter on top of the milk and cream means more fat in the base. More fat means you taste more chocolate from the same amount of cocoa powder.
The butter also brings a small amount of salt, which amplifies the chocolate without making the drink taste salty. The same principle is why his chocolate brownies taste so rich, where butter does exactly the same job.
What is the difference between his three hot chocolate recipes?
The Bread Street Kitchen version uses milk, cream and butter with cocoa powder for an everyday comfort mug. The F Word version infuses 300ml of double cream with vanilla, cinnamon, chilli and orange zest. Then 150g of dark chocolate melts into the strained cream for a thick churros dip.
The Fit Food “Aztec Hot Chocolate” skips dairy entirely. It uses 500ml of water with 100g of grated dark chocolate, nutmeg, chilli and cinnamon, served in espresso cups at 165 calories each. Ramsay calls it “a short, dark, rich hot chocolate shot rather than a big milky mugful.”
How does Ramsay’s hot chocolate compare to Nigella Lawson’s?
Nigella’s version from Nigella Feasts uses milk with broken dark chocolate, a cinnamon stick, honey, brown sugar, vanilla and dark rum. The key difference is that Nigella adds alcohol for warmth while Ramsay adds fat through butter or cream.
Nigella melts chocolate pieces directly into milk, which gives a slightly chunkier texture. Ramsay’s BSK version uses cocoa powder stirred into hot milk, which dissolves more evenly. If you want that same rich chocolate intensity as a dessert, his chocolate fondant uses the same quality dark chocolate as the F Word version.
Can you use drinking chocolate instead of cocoa powder?
You can, but the result will be different. Drinking chocolate like Cadbury or Options is pre-sweetened and around 25% cocoa, while Ramsay specifies 80%. The lower cocoa content means less chocolate flavour and a sweeter, thinner drink.
If you swap, skip the sugar syrup since drinking chocolate already has sugar in it. You could also melt real 70% dark chocolate directly into the milk like Ramsay does in his chocolate mousse. Real chocolate gives a richer result than any powder.
Does hot chocolate keep in the fridge?
Not well. The BSK version develops a skin within minutes because of the cream and butter. Reheating breaks the texture and the butter separates, which looks unappetising.
If you want a make-ahead chocolate treat, his panna cotta sets overnight and actually improves with time. For the hot chocolate, just make it fresh since it takes so little time anyway.
