It has been a long, long, long Friday. But hey- it’s just not any Friday, it’s payday Friday. And also new blog post Friday! And a pretty great Friday to make this Salted Caramel  Hot Chocolate.

So let’s talk about part three of our The Sweet Hereafter/ Salted Caramel Mocha series. Part three is from the perspective of lawyer Mitchell Stephens, Esquire, who is handling most of the lawsuits and helping point the finger towards the blame of the bus accident. Mitchell Stephens represented Risa Walker and he husband in a negligence suit that financially compensated them for the loss of their son Sean. The tone in Mitchell’s voice sounds as though that is sufficed.

I kind of drank half of it and then realized that a picture from this angle would be pretty cool. Enjoy this half drank photo.

Mitchell is unfamiliar with life in a small town. He is a fancy lawyer who handles big city cases. But not is all unfamiliar to Mitchell. The feelings of grief, that the town exudes, are all too common for him. Mitchell’s daughter Zoe is drug-addict who reaches out to him only to scam him for some money. After five years of her antics, he finally gives up on her, until he receives a phone call from her while he is handling the case in Sam Dent. Zoe says she has some big news. Zoe tells him she tested HIV positive. Mitchell does not believe or disbelieve her, but in this moment, she is dead to him either way.

 Mitchell is now one of the town’s people in Sam Dent. If Zoe is telling the truth that she has HIV, he too will suffer the loss of a child, not now, but soon enough. It’s the loss of a child that he cannot do anything to prevent, just as the parents of the bus accident victims could not prevent.

 So for part three, I made a homemade version of a Starbucks favorite: Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. Whether I am or am not at work, I bring the work home with me, clearly.

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:

2 Cups milk

3 Tablespoons white sugar

4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Dash salt

1/4 Cup butter

1/4 Cup brown sugar

1/4 Cup sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 Tablespoons light corn syrup

1 Tablespoon coarse ground salt

Ingredients for Whipped Cream (Optional)

1/4 Cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Pour milk into a sauce pan, then turn the heat onto medium-low.
2. Meanwhile, make the caramel by melting together the butter, brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and light corn syrup. Stir constantly until it begins to boil.
3. At this point, your milk should be warm enough to add the white sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and 1/4 cup of the caramel sauce you prepared. Whisk constantly until all ingredients are well incorporated.
4. Allow milk to come to a light boil, but to do burn the milk.
5. Rim a cup with the remaining caramel sauce and dip it into the coarse ground salt.
6. Whip together  your heavy cream, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar until you form stiff peaks. Using a piping bag, pipe the whipped cream onto your hot chocolate and garnish with some caramel drizzle and salt.

 “But it wasn’t greed that put me there; it’s never been greed that sends me whirling out of orbit like that. It’s anger.” ~Mitchell Stephens, Esquire