Hot chocolate in Toronto is the thing to get when you want to warm up. These recently opened places do justice to a nostalgic sweet treat with the power to brighten up even the coldest, darkest winter day.

Here's a round-up of new places in Toronto to warm up with hot chocolate.

Prologue

Hot chocolate is decorated with a puff of whip cream and mini chocolate balls at this Upper Beaches cafe.

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Sydney Grind

Accompany a hot chocolate at this New Toronto Aussie-style cafe with a Lamington or another baked good inspired by Australian sweet treats like Hummingbirds or Fairy Bread.

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Dismount

Get a hot chocolate made with Chocosol chocolate flakes and sea salt while you wait for your bike to be repaired at this two-in-one St. Clair shop. 

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Plaxton

The hot chocolate at this cafe at the nominal Plaxton and St. Clair is just as beautiful as the sandwiches stuffed with smoked meat from sibling business Adamson Barbecue.

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Sidenote

This cafe at Mimico and Lake Shore Boulevard actually makes its own whipped cream, which you can even get in a raspberry flavour with your hot chocolate. Each one is made by melting dark cocoa to order and combining it with steamed milk, and finished off with marshmallows and cocoa nibs.

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Praise Patisserie

The hot chocolate at this bakery tucked away at the back of a BMV comes decorated as intricately as any latte.

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Pilot Coffee Roasters Ossington

You can get some of the most adorable hot chocolate in the city from this new outpost of a local small chain of independent coffee roasters/cafes.

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Mallo

This cafe at Bloor and Bathurst whips up hot chocolate that’s basic but removes the chill from your bones like nothing else.

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Hounslow’s House

Hot chocolates at this postage stamp cafe on Hounslow’s Heath just off St. Clair West have tops that are as foamy and frothy as their cappuccinos. 

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Wallace Espresso Westmount

Hot chocolate is offered two ways at this new location of one of Toronto’s favourite indie cafe mini-chains: with marshmallows or without. As smooth and glassy as any flat white.