Bobby Flay Adds This Retro Spread To Hot Chocolate For The Ultimate Topping

Bobby Flay has been famous since his late 20s, noted as a top grill master and star of various cooking shows. When he's not whipping meat into delicious submission, mixing up his favorite grilling drink, or preparing his signature Southwestern dishes, the Food Network icon sometimes puts his stamp on other popular dishes and drinks. For instance, Flay has a tasty approach to hot chocolate that utilizes a retro spread for an extra splash of sweetness.

It's traditional to top hot cocoa with marshmallows, but Flay takes it to the next level with his special whipped topping for the cold-weather drink. When making red velvet hot chocolate (which is just cocoa with a splash of red food dye), Flay likes to top it up with marshmallow creme (via YouTube). He folds marshmallow fluff into whipped cream and cream cheese to mellow out (or might that be mallow out) the intensity of the sweetness and flavor. The result is a light, fluffy topping that's part whipped cream (another quintessential cocoa topper) and part marshmallowy deliciousness, marrying two popular cocoa toppings into one scrumptious blend.

To execute Bobby's sweet and creamy cocoa adornment, you can use a commercially produced marshmallow spread to fold into your whipped cream, or you can also make your own marshmallow fluff using just three ingredients: gelatin, water, and sugar. Either pathway will result in a cool, sweet topping that will take your hot chocolate over the top.

Another upgraded hot cocoa topping Bobby Flay favors is peanut butter whipped cream (via YouTube). This yummy topping transforms any cup of cocoa into essentially a liquid peanut butter cup. To create this hot chocolate addition, Flay adds a couple of tablespoons of creamy peanut butter and some vanilla extract to his heavy cream and whips it into frothy mounds. Once the whip is piled atop a cup of cocoa, he tops it off by adding chopped chocolate-covered peanuts to the peanut butter whip.

Flay also whips up quick toasted marshmallows to adorn his hot chocolate (per Facebook). To toast any store-bought marshmallows, simply line an oiled sheet pan with the sweet, pillowy morsels and then place them under a broiler for about 30 seconds. Voila! Perfectly browned marshmallows to send floating in your hot cocoa. You can also toast the treats with a kitchen torch or over the open flame of a gas burner.

Another way you can jazz up hot chocolate is with a festive rim. Simply apply an edible sticky substance to the rim of your cocoa mug (some of the leftover marshmallow fluff would work well), then dip the rim in your preferred topping or sprinkle it on. From chopped chocolate or nonpareils to candy cane bits or crumbled fruitcake, the mug-rimming options are endless. A spicy sugar rim is a great option to pair with Flay's oven-toasted marshmallows. Simply blend white sugar in a 4:1 ratio with chili pepper or cayenne. You can also create a custom spice mix using whatever elements you'd like to include, such as cinnamon and vanilla sugar blended with a flavorful add-in like chipotle powder.