It is easy to get lost in the stress during the run up to Christmas. The 5 different Secret-Santa gifts, parties at work, food shopping with meter-long ingredient lists, not to mention all the gift shopping for your nearest and dearest.

Just like every year, you picture yourself finishing your shopping early and sipping mulled wine with some Bublé on the background. But somehow, yet again, you end up rummaging through the Gingerbread Candle selection shoulder-to-shoulder with other panicked shoppers on Christmas Eve. Dizzy, hot and sweaty, you trawl through the shop, trying to resist the urge to get socks and scarves for your brother and aunt for the third year running.

Why not reward yourself after completing your ‘Christmas Chores’ this year? A Christmas spiced hot chocolate ice cream float (a mouthful of words and flavours!) is a perfect finish to a stressful day of shopping. This unusual Christmas dessert will remind you why it’s all worth it, after all.

Christmas Hot Chocolate Ice Cream Float Recipe

Ingredients (for 2 portions):

• 100ml milk
• 75ml double cream
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp Christmas spice mix
• 100g dark chocolate
• ice cream

Method:

1. Heat the milk and the cream in a small pot over low heat. Add chocolate, broken into smaller pieces. Add sugar and spice mix
2. Stir the chocolate gently until all of the solid chocolate dissolves completely
3. Scoop the ice cream into cups. Pour the chocolate over it and decorate with marshmallows, candy canes and, of course, extra chocolate

You can also swap some of the chocolate for our hot chocolate on a stick recipe: just use 2 sticks and 20g of dark chocolate. Feel free to flavour the chocolate with whatever puts you in a festive mood best: add a couple of drops of peppermint or orange extract, sprinkle the ice cream with chocolate chips or nuts, drizzle some caramel sauce or whip up some whipped cream.

If you liked this, why not take a look at some of our other delicious festive dessert posts?

• Chocolate Christmas Pudding
• Snowman Panna Cotta
• Hot Chocolate On A Stick
• Homemade White Hot Chocolate Snowstorm