Top 10 Places for Hot Chocolate

Morning Beautifuls,

Whilst out with friends, ordering my usual hot drink of a hot chocolate, a blog post idea dawned on me.

And I felt like I was Einstein. Talk about the best idea in the world (at that second).

Finding my top 8 places for Hot Chocolates. Not only do I get to drink hot chocolates everywhere I go (and I will definitely not be complaining), I can tell you the places I loved when it came to hot chocolates!

So this blog post is dedicated to all those hot chocolate fans out there!

1. Oliver Brown
Yes, they are known for their chocolate, however I was still interested on their drinking chocolate. I was pleasantly surprised at their choices of hot chocolate – Not many places I go give you a option of milk, dark or white chocolate when it comes to their warm beverages. After tossing up for a while between a dark and a milk, I opted for the regular, deciding the dark was for a later date. At $5.50, the fast service and decorative cup were very welcoming. I adore their design technique with the melted chocolate swirl dripping slightly from the side giving it that very homey, warm feeling.
The drink itself was amazing – the perfect temperature and blend of milk and chocolate – not too creamy and not too rich. Just the way I like it. The sizing is also great – giving you just the right amount for that after dinner treat. Perfect!

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2. Beehive Cafe, Beecroft
As a completely different hot chocolate, this light chocolate drink is amazing for the days you don’t want anything too sickly sweet but want to warm up with a hot beverage. It is a lovely soft blend of chocolate and milk with a cute sprinkle of chocolate on the froth giving it a very homely style. At $4.80, this chocolate drink is of reasonable price, making its blend of chocolately goodness perfect for those cold mornings and early starts!

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3. Pennant Hills Cafe, Pennant Hills
It may not have the most original name for a cafe, but the deliciously warm taking hot chocolate is definitely worth checking this place out. I love that it comes with a marshmallow and sweet biscuit. The chocolate in this hot chocolate is perfect for me, wet without being too sweet, without any bitter taste and the perfect creamy, milky texture! Really enjoyed this hot chocolate!

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4. Flower Child Cafe, Chatswood
Yes, I have already written a review about this cafe, however, I feel it would be wrong not to include their hot chocolates in this post as this, hands down, is definitely up there with my favourite places for a hot chocolate. They have the perfect amount of froth on top (and froth is sometimes the best part!) with the creamy chocolate-y warmth underneath soooo good to warm you up on a cold day!

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5. Local Collective, Galston
While I was working on one of my intense assignments for uni, I found myself venturing to this cafe to study and drink their hot chocolates. Because they are amazing. I love the chocolate-y taste and the warmth, making the assignment less stressful and easiery to get through!

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6. Wolfe and Co, Dural
More hot chocolate-y goodness! This one was super thick and super creamy! I loved its consistency and the warmness of it on the chilly days!

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7. Press, Dubbo
This one was slightly on the dark chocolate side, making it a perfect wake up hot chocolate on a very cold day. We even came back here two within a day for their hot chocolates. Once for breakfast and about two hours later for morning tea. YUM!

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8. At Home
Yes. Let’s be real. Sometimes there nothing better than using your favourite hot chocolate mix with an extra few marshmallows and cuddling up in your favourite blanket watching TV. Sometimes this is the best hot chocolate you could ever have! Especially when you can use your favourite mug!

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Blimey! This blog post has been a long time in the making!

Hope you enjoyed the overshare of hot chocolates! Yum, yum, yum!

Keep smiling,

Kay Anne

4th Blog of Christmas: Gifts

Morning Beautifuls!

It feels weird to write two blogs in one day but I am so excited for this one! It has to be one of my favourites out of the whole 12 days (Yes, I think I have them all organised now! Super excited). So, I really want to just get on with it!

On the 4th blog of Christmas and the blog posts to see…

THESE ARE SOME OF THE COOLEST HOMEMADE GIFTS I HAVE MADE FOR A WHILE! I am tempted to keep them all to myself… But I am extremely excited to show them all to you! Ready? I am sooooo pumped!!!!!!

As I said above, all of these are handmade gifts, really simple and really fun to create and give away (if you can bring yourself to do that). All quite cute little gifts, either as an individual present or paired with something else. Personally, they are all neat individual gifts for friends!

The first is a ‘Let It Snow’ Candle. For this candle, I bought a balloon shaped candle holder, filled it with blue acrylic crystals (that are used usually as vase fillers) and then placed a tea light in the centre. For the decorations around the glass, I sprayed it with fake snow (‘Santa Snow’) and placed a few silver Christmas trees and snowflakes stickers around. Presto! Gift number one complete!

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My second homemade gift I wanted to show you is a homemade ‘Candy Cane’ Body Sugar Scrub. This is a really cute beauty related gift and not only is it quite easy to make, it makes your house smell incredible! The white layer is sugar mixed with scented oil and turns into a gorgeous body scrub that feels incredible on the skin and makes you skin feel fresh and clean! Mix a bit of crushed candy cane and red food dye in with the sugar to create the pink/red sugar and layer them up in a candy-cane effect!

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Thirdly, is a recipe in a jar. I made these last year for some friends and they are incredible! So, of course, I decided to make them again. I call them ‘Very Merry Christmas Brownies’. In the jar is all the dry ingredients needed for some of the most amazing brownies you will ever taste. Only issue, is it is a bit fiddly to create – especially with the layers – but I do think its worth it for the final result!

For a 1L jar, the layers are:

  • 1/2 tsp baking powder mixed with 95g plain flour
  • 35g cocoa
  • 75g plain flour
  • 135 brown sugar
  • 150g caster (white) sugar
  • 200g m&ms (I used the mixed colours, but the red and green Christmas pack could also look very festive!)
  • 50g coarsely chopped walnuts
  • For the tag: Pour all ingredients into a mixing bowl. Mix with 150g melted butter and two eggs. Pour mixture into brownie tin and cook on 180 degrees for 25 mins.

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The final gift I have for you today is a really simple, but super cute idea! It is a hot chocolate snowman! Using some small jars, fill one with jelly sweets, one with hot chocolate mixture and the last with white marshmallows. Stack them together, stick on some buttons, eyes, nose and mouth and tie a ribbon (or two!) around its neck. I decided it really needed a hat, so cut one out of red felt, tying it on with a red thin elastic. Then, for a final touch, I sprayed a the bottom of its body with a tad of the fake snow. Isn’t it adorable?!

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I really love these gifts! Simple but amazing in my eyes 🙂

See you tomorrow for blog 5. Promise this one will be on time!

Keep smiling and stay festive,

Kay Anne

The Most Amazing Hot Chocolate Ever

Morning Beautifuls,

Brace yourself.

My friend and I just discovered the most incredible hot chocolate ever.

The best thing, its made at home!!

I don’t know whether or not we were serious when we suggested making it this way, but, boy, am I glad we did! Recommend you go make it now.

Let me tell you how.

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All you need is milk, chocolate melts and your favourite mug. If you want, you can also use a bit of water (but I’ll get to that bit). For chocolate melts, I used Cadbury melts (I’ve made it twice in the span for four hours – once with milk chocolate melts, one with dark chocolate melts, so that one is your choice). Add a tad of warm milk (or boiling water) to the bottom of your mug and mix in the chocolate. You can use anywhere between 5-15 buttons (I love around the 8-12 mark, but it really depends how chocolately you want it!). Then top up the cup with as much milk as you want. Put it in the microwave for 1 min, stir and then put back into the microwave for another min (or until its hot enough for you).

There you have it.

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Taste the glory of the most amazing hot chocolate ever.

You are welcome.

Keep smiling,

Kay Anne.