TOPPINGS AND ADD-INS
Now, we get to the good stuff!
Everyone will have their favorite, but don’t be afraid to unleash your inner Willy Wonka to find amazing toppings and mix-ins.
Display your toppings in Mason jars or other pretty, transparent containers. Ideally, get containers that already come with scoops.
If your hot drink station will be out for more than a few hours, you’ll also want to make sure that the containers have airtight lids to keep ingredients as fresh as possible.
Otherwise, you can just use normal or disposable spoons for your guests to serve themselves with toppings, and to mix the drinks.
If you’re low on space, use a Lazy Susan to make a turntable of revolving toppings.
Organizing your toppings
Wooden Lazy Susan
Your toppings can be whatever you like; the sky’s the limit, but as a guide use any of the following:
| Whoppers | Fine cocoa powder or chocolate sprinkles |
| Marshmallows | Chocolate chips |
| Kosher or Sea salt | Whipped cream |
| White chocolate chips | Candy canes |
| Cinnamon | Lindt truffles (or other ‘melty’ candies) |
| Toffee pieces | Baileys or Amaretto |
| Chopped chili | Flavored coffee syrups like hazelnut, caramel or cherry |
| Dark chocolate syrup | Cookies for dipping |
| Crushed peppermints | Caramel sauce |
Some of our favorite accessories for topping your hot chocolate
Hot Chocolate Toppers
Marshmallow Hot Chocolate Spoons
Hot Chocolate Gift Set
HOT CHOCOLATE WARMER
We’ve seen inspiration for tasty hot chocolate recipes and now, let’s look at how to keep your hot chocolate warm once it’s out.
You’ll likely want to make your batch of hot chocolate before your guests arrive and then top it up as you need to.
A crockpot is ideal for this as, depending on your recipe, you can slow cook the hot chocolate overnight and wake up with it ready to go.
Just place the crockpot on your hot chocolate station with a ladle so that your guests can help themselves or you can serve it to them.
You can keep the hot chocolate continuously warm using the crockpot’s low heat setting, stirring from time to time, and topping up as needed.
A different option is to fill an insulated drink urn with hot milk and keep some cocoa powder out on your hot drinks station so guests can help themselves. This is a slightly messier option than providing the hot chocolate pre-made, however.
Another way is to make the hot chocolate in any large cooking pan and decant it into a hot drinks urn or dispenser.
You could also leave the pot of cooked hot chocolate on a hot plate or warming tray, with a ladle if you don’t have a crockpot. This option might get hot, so you’ll want to keep an eye on it and watch for accidents.
Our favorite products for keeping hot chocolate warm for a crowd
Hot Drinks Urn Dispenser
Get this look
Red and White Twine
Once you have your signs and supplies set up, you won’t need a lot of extra decoration on the table itself.
You may also want to put out some non-chocolate hot drinks like a pot of coffee or flavored teas.
Once your set up is complete, although you may need to refill some of the ingredients, it’s easy and self-sufficient for guests to help themselves to what they want – which makes this idea such a hit with busy hosts!
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