This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
I feel a need to say, before I go any further with this week's Feasting column, that this is a wonderful novel. The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes is this month's Novelicious Book Club read and I am writing this post ten minutes after I've turned the last page.
I haven't read a Jojo Moyes novel since The Ship of Brides. Not because I have anything against the author – far from it, I absolutely loved The Ship of Brides. But in recent years I've avoided books that hold the possibility of making me tearful. I am, it has to be said, a bit of a wimp. Authors that have that special ability to make you live and breathe the emotional journey have been a no-go area for me for a few years. So the way I feel for this book is unexpected, but my eyes have that dryness and my mind has that spaced out-wooliness that comes from reading, enjoying and immersing oneself so completely in a novel. It is, it has to be said, a rather lovely feeling.
And it is quite perfect that the food – or rather the drink – that caught my attention in this novel is a hot chocolate. A hot chocolate that Mr. Nicholls says: "cures all known ills". Not only does it do that, and Tanzie felt it absolutely did, but it is rather ideal to drink whilst reading a book that will make you cry, laugh, your heart swoop and cry again, all within a few pages. Not only will it cure all known ills, but will comfort you on one wonderfully emotional book-reading journey.
I'm now off to make myself a(nother) cup of this stuff and to treat myself to Jojo's back catalogue. There's still time to pick up a copy for yourself and join us for our book club chat at the end of the month. We hope to see you there.
Makes one large, comforting, mug
Equipment
Non-stick saucepan, whisk, mug
Ingredients
300ml milk
142ml double cream – half for the drink and half to whisk to dollop on the top (You won't need all the whisked cream, but it's impossible to whisk just one tablespoon full! Keep in fridge, covered in cling film, until you fancy another cuppa.)
50g chocolate. Dark, milk or a mixture. Broken into pieces.
To serve
Double cream, whisked until thick
Marshmallows
Chocolate flake
Method
- Whisk half the cream – about 60-70ml – until thick. Refrigerate.
- Pour the milk, the rest of the cream – about 60-70ml – into the saucepan and add the broken chocolate.
- Heat gently and whisk. Bring to a gentle boil.
- Once smooth pour into mugs.
- Add a blob of thick cream, scatter over the marshmallows and flake some chocolate over the top.
- Drink whilst reading.