Peruvian Hot Chocolate Gift Idea

Hot chocolate in a jar craft and gift

Inspired by sponsored children in Peru, it’s as simple as decorating a jar, adding the dry ingredients for the recipe, and then saving it to give to a hot chocolate fan for Christmas.

Hot chocolate in a jar gift step 1

Decorate: Use ribbon, washi/masking tape and/or other supplies you have around your house to decorate a medium glass jar. You could research traditional Peruvian clothing and colours to get ideas for how to decorate it.

Hot chocolate jars step 2

Add your hot chocolate jar ingredients: Neatly pour 65g cocoa powder into the jar, followed by 65g of sugar. Then slide one or two cinnamon sticks into the jar along the side.* Next, neatly add 1 tsp. ground cloves to the jar, followed by ¼ tsp. salt. If there’s space left between the top layer and the top of the jar, fill it with marshmallows or chocolate chips. Put on the lid.

* Instead of cinnamon sticks, you can use 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, added on top of the salt.

Chocolate jar step 3

Write out the recipe: Make a little card out of thick paper or cardstock. On the front, write “Peruvian hot chocolate recipe.” Inside, write these directions:

• Pour the contents of this jar into a medium saucepan. Whisk them together. Slowly add 700ml water to the pan.
• Place saucepan over medium high heat and whisk until the cocoa and sugar dissolve. Bring to a gentle boil.
• Slowly whisk in 250ml milk and reheat gently.

Hot chocolate kit step 4

Personalise: If you’d like, include a personal note on the back of your card. Perhaps write something like: “Dear Green family, Compassion-sponsored children in Peru love this hot chocolate. Here are the dry ingredients you need to make your own!” Or keep it simple with the classic “To _______ From ________.”

Hot chocolate jar step 5

Give: Attach your card to the jar with a ribbon. It’s ready to give as a Christmas gift!

Interested in learning more about Peruvian culture? Discover more about Compassion’s work in Peru and consider sponsoring a child.

A version of this blog was original published by our friends at Compassion USA.