Mexican Drinking Chocolate

Adapted from a recipe at Al Dente. http://bit.ly/fFbSc9

• Ready In: 15 mins
• Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄4 lbs dark chocolate, finely chopped (61-66% cacao)
• 2 1⁄4 cups heavy cream
• 2  vanilla beans, split and scraped
• 2  teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  dried chipotle powder
• 1⁄4 cup light corn syrup
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  almond extract
• 8  cups milk

Directions

1. Put chocolate in a large bowl.
2. Combine cream, vanilla beans (seeds and pods), cinnamon and chile powder in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat. Press vanilla pods against sides of pan to extract any remaining seeds and cream; discard pods.
3. Pour cream over chocolate and stir until melted. Add corn syrup and almond extract; stir until smooth.
4. Package in very clean 1 cup jars. Refrigerate up to 2 weeks.
5. To serve, combine 1/4 c ganache (use a heated spoon to scrape ganache out of jar) with 1/2 c hot milk and stir until smooth.