Post-Expedition Cocoa from the Tomb Raider Cookbook
Post-Expedition Cocoa is the Tomb Raider Cookbook's version of hot chocolate. Is it a groundbreaking recipe? No. Is it comforting, warming and nourishing nevertheless? Yes, yes, and yes. Specifically, this recipe is a dry mix you can either take with you on an expedition, or enjoy after returning home.
In the cookbook, the recipe is themed around Helheim, the Norse underworld that Lara finds underneath the Arctic Sea. This is the destination she seeks out in Tomb Raider: Underworld, where her mother was sent after using a sword in a dais in Nepal. However, Post-Expedition Cocoa could just as easily be something Lara consumes after her trips to other cold climates across the Tomb Raider franchise.
This hot cocoa/chocolate mix consists of dried milk powder, icing/powdered/confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder and chocolate chips. You're meant to use semisweet, but I only had milk and dark chocolate chips, so I used a combination of both. There's not much to making the recipe. You put everything into a food processor and grind it into a fine powder, then store it. It's a good job I had some milk powder, since I barely use it for much. I need to do something with the rest of it. Any ideas?
The recipe says to make a cup (or a cuppa as the British would say), you add one cup of water or milk to 1/3 cup of the mixture. I used milk, although in the field you're more likely to have access to water, so do what you prefer. It also recommends adding a dash of peppermint extract. I didn't think I had that, but luckily I did, and I added a drop as I was told.
It does make a difference; not only did I feel soothed from drinking this chocolate concoction, my mouth also felt refreshed from consuming the peppermint. You shouldn't add too much however, or else you'll turn it into something terrible.
Of course, my mug of hot chocolate had to be served with marshmallows that I had leftover from another, non-Tomb Raider recipe (coming soon). The book also recommends whipped cream, which I didn't have (or want to bother making), but I would suggest if you have time, using both.
If you want to make this recipe for Post-Expedition Cocoa yourself, you can find it in Tomb Raider: The Official Cookbook and Travel Guide.
