Top 8: Choc's away with the best shop-bought hot chocolate

Our winners today are deliciously chocolatey and have a satisfying richness. Good in banana milkshakes and sprinkled on buttered toast, pancakes, sieved onto cakes – even leftover mince pies.

Pic: iStock

Hot chocolate is what you make it. Frothing the milk and serving with an added sprinkling of the chocolate on top makes it special. Children nearly always ask for marshmallows, and I mete out no more than two tiny ones as an occasional treat. A sprinkling of cinnamon or ginger is delicious and a spoonful of that orange liqueur at the back of the cupboard or some Baileys can add a festive warmth for grown-ups on New Year’s Eve.

Most instant hot chocolate powders have low chocolate content, anticaking agents and flavourings and are less satisfying than hot chocolate made with milk. Adding hot water reduces the danger of burning milk in saucepans. But the best solution is to use a meat thermometer such as Ikea’s Fantast (€8), which you can set to your required temperature. Sit the long shaft into the milk and it will beep when the required temperature has been reached (65C for children, 70C if adults like it hotter).