Hot chocolate worthy of an adult

Forget the package of Swiss Miss. It’s quick to make and more quickly forgotten. Not so the gourmet hot chocolate or hot cocoa served up by cafes and restaurants.When made from fine chocolate or cocoa, these steaming drinks are filling, flavorful, and above all, chocolaty. They’re so yummy, you’re missing a treat if you think of them as a child’s drink."It’s very rich, but not overly sweet,'' said Heather Little, manager of L.A. Burdick Chocolate in Harvard Square, where lines for hot chocolate often extend out the door on winter weekends. "It’s basically liquid chocolate that we make in small batches.''You’ll find hot chocolate in a variety of offerings at restaurants and cafes known for their chocolate, desserts and afternoon tea. Most use Valrhona chocolate, a luxury chocolate made in France. Typically, dark chocolate is used, but milk and white chocolate are lighter and sweeter.For each cup, L.A. Burdick melts 12 ounces of chocolate, adds a little dark cocoa powder made from beans grown in Granada, and a cup of two-percent milk.The mixture is steamed until it’s very hot, about 165 degrees, and topped with a dollop of foamed milk and a sprinkling of chocolate and spice. Whipped cream also is an option, preferred by those who want to soften dark chocolate’s bittersweet flavor, Little said.Although the names are used interchangeably, cocoa is different from hot chocolate. It’s made from cocoa powder and sugar and doesn’t have cocoa butter. But the drink can taste equally rich when made with Valrhona cocoa, sugar infused with vanilla bean, and whole milk, as it is done at Upstairs on the Square in Cambridge.When topped with house made marshmallow fluff and accompanied by a piece of chocolate and sugar cookie, it’s a dessert in itself.