Doughnuts become hot cocoa

There is a crazy delicious new trend in milkshakes. It involves adding a slice of pie to the blender along with the milk and ice cream.

That’s right – a whole slice of pie.

I wanted it, except that the winter holidays aren’t exactly milkshake season. So I started playing with winter-friendly ways to borrow this idea of blending baked goods and sweet drinks.

Hot chocolate was the natural choice. But pie just didn’t seem right. Doughnuts, however, seemed perfect. Chocolate doughnuts to be precise.

The process was simple. The results were spectacular. The hot chocolate was richly chocolaty but retained a distinctly doughnut flavor. The hot chocolate also was wonderfully thick.

It also is important to use a cake-style doughnut (not yeast-raised), such as a chocolate or old fashioned. I used glazed or sugar-coated doughnuts with great results.

Chocolate Doughnut Hot Chocolate

2 cups whole milk

1 glazed or sugar-coated chocolate cake doughnut

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Pinch salt

In a blender, combine the milk and doughnut. Puree until very smooth. This could take a minute or longer.

Transfer the mixture to a medium saucepan. Whisking constantly, heat over medium until it thickens, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chocolate chips and salt, whisking until the chocolate has melted and the cocoa is smooth. Serve immediately.

Yield: four servings.

Approximate nutrition per serving: 240 calories, 13 grams fat (7 grams saturated, 48 percent fat calories), 5 grams protein, 27 grams carbohydrate, 20 milligrams cholesterol, 2 grams dietary fiber, 160 milligrams sodium.