Yarra Valley Chocolaterie: Hot Chocolate Festival offers smashed avocado and other weird drops

SMASHED avo is so popular in Melbourne that a Yarra Valley eatery thought the logical next step was to offer it on the go - in hot chocolate form. But it’s not the weirdest drink on the menu.

Rylee McGuire, Jackie Ganderton and Kelsey Mollison with some of the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie’s hot chocolate creations. Picture: Andrew Tauber

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COULD this be the most hipster-influenced hot chocolate in Victoria?

Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery staff have turned the trendiest brekkie dish into a sweet tooth’s delight for their annual Hot Chocolate Festival.

The smashed avo hot chocolate features a quarter of an avocado, smashed, then mixed with steaming hot milk and white chocolate.

Yum! The smashed avocado hot chocolate. Picture: Andrew Tauber

A sweet chilli twist is also on the menu. Picture: Andrew Tauber

The Waffle Wonder, another Hot Chocolate Festival creation. Picture: Andrew Tauber

It’s then topped with white chocolate shavings, a vanilla marshmallow and another dollop of smashed avocado.

Chocolaterie managing director Leanne Neeland said the drink was “breakfast on the run” for millennials.

“We have smashed avo on our breakfast menu and already have a fantastic following for that, so we thought we’d take it to the next level,” she said.

This hot chocolate drink comes in a handmade cookie cup. Picture: Andrew Tauber

While this honeycomb-flavoured drop includes exploding marshmallows. Picture: Andrew Tauber

“Usually a white-chocolate lover likes something sweet, so this is beautiful and creamy and the avocado complements it perfectly.”

The hot chocolate is one of 31 varieties created for the festival, which runs until the end of August.

Up to eight creations will be featured each week including a sweet-chilli hot chocolate with chocolate-coated corn chips, a “Cookie Monster” variety with a handcrafted cup made out of cookies, and a honeycomb-flavoured hot chocolate with exploding marshmallows.

Other flavours to be featured later in the month include mulled wine, salty pretzel, parmesan cheese twist, pumpkin chai and a ‘superfood’ creation.

Mrs Neeland said the chocolaterie was expecting up to 50,000 people over the month for the festival.

Details: yvci.com.au