Cocoa soup - Kakósúpa

I loved cocoa soup and cocoa pudding when I was a child. The soup would be served with zwieback that we would crumble into coarse pieces into the bowl and then we would eat the soup while there was still some crunch left in the zwieback. On special occasions cocoa soup would be served with whipped cream and then it was like thick cocoa, only you ate it with a spoon. It was wonderful to come in from the chill of a winter's morning and sit down to some hot cocoa soup for lunch.

Cocoa pudding was poured into a large bowl prior to serving, sugar was sprinkled on top to prevent a skin from forming, and then we would eat it warm or cold. I never liked it much cold, preferring cold chocolate pudding made with Royal pudding mix, served with whipped cream mixed into it so it looked marbelised.

My mother never used cinnamon but sometimes she put a little bit of vanilla essence into the soup.

2 tbs baking cocoa
2 1/2 tbs sugar
250 ml water
1 cinnamon stick or vanilla pod (optional)
1 litre milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs potato flour or cornflour (double or triple as needed to make pudding)
100 ml cold water
Zwieback

Mix together cocoa and sugar and add to the water in a cooking pot. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Mix the potato flour/cornflour with cold water to make a smooth paste.

Add the milk, salt and cinnamon or vanilla pod (split lengthwise), if using, to the cocoa mix and bring to the boil. Stir the potato flour/cornflour paste into the boiling soup and wait until it boils again.

Serve hot with zwieback or whipped cream.

For a real treat, make the soup with real chocolate.

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