HOT CHOCOLATES
Winter is coming and Amber Macpherson has found the Gold Coast’s finest hot choccies to warm you up from the inside out
COWCH PACIFIC FAIR SHOPPING CENTRE, 1606/07 HOOKER BLVD, BROADBEACH WATERS
One variety of hot chocolate just isn’t the Cowch style, so the dessert bar has four flavours on offer. You can choose from milk, white, dark or caramel, then jack it up with extra sweet toppings. “Cowch hot chocolates are a must have this winter,” Cowch owner Arif Memphis says. “Choose what type of chocolate you want and then make it deluxe with whipped cream and toasted marshmallows. To make it even better, have it in store next to the fire.”
ELK ESPRESSO
SHOP 44 THE OASIS, CHARLES AVENUE, BROADBEACH
Pink is the new black in the chocolate world, and Elk Espresso is riding the ruby train with its new hot chocolate sphere drink. Owner Andrew Whiting explains the modern chocolate flavour will take the Broadbeach cafe’s signature hot chocolate concoction to the next level. “Ruby chocolate is big at the moment with its beautiful pink and red colour and fruit flavour,” Andrew says. “Diners will receive a ruby coloured sphere with pouring hot chocolate mixer for them to melt the sphere to make a brand new flavoured hot chocolate. It will also have two secretly hidden marshmallows inside the sphere that pop out during the melting process.”
PADDOCK BAKERY 20 HIBISCUS HAVEN, MIAMI
Paddock Bakery says if you finish your hot chocolate without a sticky smudge on your face, you’re not drinking the right kind. The Miami breakfast haunt has brought back its hot choc with a torched marshmallow top. “It is a combination of top-grade chocolate all melted together with a dash of cream, creating one big rich mouthful of chocolate,” Paddock owner Chloe Watts says. “We then top it with our house marshmallow and torch it before going to the table. The marshmallow cuts through the rich chocolate and makes for a fun and messy dining experience. It’s one of our favourites for sure.”
LOST FAWN 2319 SPRINGBROOK RD, SPRINGBROOK
Crisp mountain air, a crackling fire and a smooth hot chocolate — a visit to Lost Fawn is a must-do winter day trip. The Springbrook cafe offers a standard hot chocolate and four specialty flavours, served in the charming dining room while a log burns on the fire. “We have three flavours of hot chocolate — mint slice, Turkish delight and Jaffa,” coowner Regan Proctor says. “We also have a salted caramel hot chocolate.” Cadbury hot chocolate is infused with mint, rose essence or orange emulsion, before being dusted with the cafe’s signature fawn stencil.
OH MY, WAFFLE 6/1837 GOLD COAST HWY, BURLEIGH HEADS
You can have your cake and drink it too at Oh My, Waffle (and your Oreos and s'mores). The waffle dessert shop has three decadent choices for the sweet tooths in all of us. Oh My, Waffle co-owner Jessica Hannagan says they’re made for serious chocolate sippers. “The campfire hot chocolate is like a s’mores hot chocolate, rimmed with chocolate icing and crushed biscuits and we torch the mini marshmallows . Let’s Get Chocolate Wasted is a Nutella one rimmed with crushed Oreos, and Drop it Like it’s Hot has red velvet cake crumbs. They’re all made with Whittaker's hot chocolate.”