Chocolaty Goodness

In which we discover that yes, there is such a thing as “too rich”.

Yesterday wasn’t a particularly great day (fruitless shopping, car problems – don’t ask). But there was one bright spot. I’ve been to the Cocoa Caffe on the corner of 9th South and 3rd East a couple of times for coffee and scones.  REAL scones, not Utah “scones”, which for some reason is what people in Utah call deep fried bread dough. Not that the Utah “scones” are bad – they can be quite yummy, especially with some butter and honey, but they bear no relation to the sweetened biscuits people everywhere else are familiar with.

Anyway, Mim turned me on to the scones there. When she told me about them, I was totally confusing “Cocoa Caffe” with “Koko Kitchen” (2 blocks north on the corner of 7th South and 3rd East). I thought it was really weird that a Japanese restaurant made good scones, until I figured out my error.

I’ve only had coffee and scones there, but I’ve been wanting to try their famous hot cocoa. Yesterday I just happened to get off the freeway and turn onto 9th South, instead of going to 8th South as I usually do. As I drove by, I was thinking again about that hot cocoa. As luck would have it, there was an open parking spot right in front, and it was even lunchtime!  So I parked and went in.

I ordered a small hot cocoa (8 oz) and of course, a scone. Then I sat down to enjoy them. The first sip was pure delight – rich, thick, decadent, steaming hot chocolate, sipped from under a layer of cool whipping cream. The flavor immediately reminded me of something specific – what was it?  I couldn’t place it. The texture is thick, creamy, and silky. Sort of like the texture of frozen custard as compared to ice cream. The richness was like drinking melted chocolate.

As it began to cool, it got even thicker, with a bit of a skin on the top. Almost like pudding. That was it! It tasted like chocolate pudding. Home-made, right out of the saucepan while it’s still hot. I was glad I got the small, because it was so rich I couldn’t finish it. OK, I’m sure the scone didn’t help. But seriously, they should sell this stuff in espresso cups. Or hypodermics. Out of curiosity, I took what was left home with me and put it in the fridge. I wondered if it might actually turn into pudding. (It didn’t, but it was pretty tasty cold, too.)