Chocolate Protein Milk, Chilled and Silken

Headnote

This is a restrained chocolate dairy drink built for clarity rather than sweetness. The cocoa is kept clean, the texture is polished, and the finish is lifted by a precise balance of salt and sweetness. It should drink like a composed cold cream: smooth, light on the palate, and complete in itself.

Recipe essentials

Dish category: Protein beverage

Cuisine or origin: Contemporary European

Course type: Drink

Yield: 1 serving

Serving size: 330 g

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Total time: 5 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Digital scale

Small mixing bowl

Fine whisk

Blender

Fine-mesh sieve

Chilled serving glass, 350 g capacity

Ingredients

Base

240 g skim milk

70 g milk protein concentrate

12 g cocoa powder

2 g stabilizer

2 g flavoring

3 g sweetener

0.5 g lactase enzyme

0.5 g salt

0.0 g vitamin and mineral premix

Method

1. Combine the skim milk, milk protein concentrate, cocoa powder, stabilizer, flavoring, sweetener, lactase enzyme, and salt in a blender.

2. Blend on high speed for 30 to 45 seconds, until the mixture is completely smooth, uniformly brown, and free of visible powder. The texture should appear glossy and slightly thickened.

3. Pass the drink through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl or jug to remove any remaining grit and ensure a polished mouthfeel.

4. Transfer 330 g of the finished drink to a chilled serving glass. Serve immediately, or hold briefly in the refrigerator if needed. The drink should be cold, fluid, and creamy, with a clean chocolate finish and no separation.

Plating and serving

Serve in a chilled glass with a still surface and a dense, even color. The drink should present as lean and refined, with the chocolate leading and the dairy rounding the finish.

Professional notes

Use very cold skim milk to preserve freshness and improve the final texture. The stabilizer must be fully dispersed; any delay in blending will leave the drink sandy. The ideal finish is smooth, lightly viscous, and cleanly sweet, never heavy.