Grits with Cocoa and Cinnamon (Krupicová Kaša)
Ingredients: milk (2 cups), 6 tablespoons of grits, ground cinnamon, cocoa, sugar, unsalted butter
Prep time: 20 minutes
When I was growing up in what used to be Czechoslovakia (the Czech Republic and Slovakia now), people never ate cereal for breakfast. I don’t think anything like cereal was even available. Some folks ate oatmeal (ovsené vločky), but for most the typical breakfast consisted of a raisin bread with jam, bread with a meat spread (pašťeka), hemendex, or, the meal I show in this post, sweet grits with cocoa and cinnamon, krupicová kaša (meaning grits porridge). If you never had grits, you should definitely try this recipe. It’s delicious. You can prepare grits by cooking them in water instead of milk. I actually used to use water, until I saw a recipe on this recipe page (in Slovak) suggesting milk. Grits turn out creamier (and tastier I think) when cooked in milk. Besides milk and grits, you will ground cinnamon, sugar, butter, and cocoa powder. I used the 100% kind found in the baking section, but you can use a hot chocolate mix instead.
Bring the milk to boil and add the grits. Also add one tablespoon of sugar. Take unsalted butter out of the fridge to let it soften up.
Reduce the heat, and stir until grits thicken enough so they don’t immediately fill in the gap left behind the stirring spoon. This will take about 15 to 20 minutes.
Pour the grits into a bowl and top with a tablespoon of ground cinnamon and a tablespoon of cocoa. Then add 3 thin slivers of butter.
Serve un-mixed along with hot chocolate or cocoa. Stir in the toppings before eating. Enjoy!
While I was writing the article, it occurred to me that perhaps what I consider typical breakfast may be totally unusual for others. Slovakia is a small country but we have quite a bit of variety when it comes to food. So, I would love to hear from you. Did you grow up in Slovakia? If yeah, what do you consider typical breakfast food? And how does it compare to what you eat now? And for those who grew up in the USA, did you ever used to eat grits? I have heard that grits are very common (mainly in the south), but in the 15 years I have lived in the States, I have never actually seen anyone eat grits. Ever. Thanks!
Hi Lubos,
sorry to disapoint you, but grits is not a breakfast meal at all. Or at least not in our family. I can’t remember having it for breakfast. In the kindergarden we always had it after lunch and at home for dinner. But anyhow, it’s very tasty:)))
I also dont remember having grits for a breakfast when I was a kid. We used to have for a dinner.
Anyway, I am not so sure if grits from the south are exactly the same as we have. I mean I have never eaten american grits but I recall one scene from “My cousin Vinny” movie about grits. And the way how they explained the preparation of grits was kind of different and when I asked my american friend about it he told me it’s not “krupicova kasa” so I don’t know. Anyway, I have never eaten or bought american grits so I can not compare.
But I loooove the Slovak ones.
I remember eating grits and cocoa every morning when I was a small girl and lived in Slovakia. The recipe is easy and will bring some sunshine to the rainy days.
We eat krupicova kase here (connecticut) but it’s called cream of wheat. When we eat grits (kind of rare anyway)it’s always salty and with lots of butter. Anyways, thanks for the idea, I know what I am making for dinner tonight.
Oh, what a horribly angry avatar I got! Looks like I am all mad about the grits or something.
Haha – sorry but that was really funny. Hmm, you can register on WordPress.com and upload a picture. It will then automagically appear here.
Hi Lubos,
We didn’t eat grits for breakfast, but after lunch or for dinner. I always made them with the milk(taste is definitely better,my mom made them always with milk and she was professional cook), plus, I add a little bit sugar inside. You can find grits at Russian store(Herndon), these are exactly the same as at home. I got them a while ago, they are very good.
When I was in Germany, the American family over there would eat grits, but they would put cheese on the top. It was quite good, I liked it.
Ahoj Lubos,
velmi sa tesim, ze som objavila nieco take uzasne, ako tuto stranku. Pre mna je sice varenie konickom a viac-menej robim experimenty s jedlami inych kuchyn, ale krupicovu kasu robim pravidelne…..vsetci, dokonca aj tu v Colorade ju zboznuju:). Prajem krasny den a urcite buduci mesiac, ked budem na SK navstivim ocinou restauraciu…..a este pred tym sa pokusim urobit slivkove knedliky….haha, tie som naposledy robila doma…tu v USA nikdy.
Dakujem pekne za comment! Ja som si prave znovu urobil kasu – tento krat na veceru. Je to super. Povedal som ocovi ze sa chystate. Dufam ze bude chutit.
Bulgarians also eat this for breakfast (never seen it served for dinner), but we put only sugar and no cocoa or cinnamon. I have also seen Americans eating this for breakfast/brunch in my college in Connecticut.
yes defo!
next time am baking i definitely take some pics and email it to you?
Hm, krupicova kasa sa povie farina, nie grits. Bezne ju kupujem v obchode.
why is everyone acting like grits is some ethnic food unfamiliar in the US? everyone in the US eats grits for breakfast. It is an iconic southern food. you dont need to go to a special store to buy it, it is in every supermarket in the US. you can probably even get it at 7-11. as to the difference between breakfast and dinner: for breakfast you eat grits and for dinner you eat polenta. although really it is the exact same thing with a different name.
far cry from the grits, butter, and sugar we ate when I was a kid. but i’ll try it all the same.
Krupica is ‘semolina’ here in the UK, you can buy it in any supermarket, usually (for some strange reason) in indian section. Can be coarse or fine – fine’s definitely better for ‘krupicova kasa’. And as for time when we eat it – my grandma used to make it for dinner when we were kids.. yummy !!
Krupica was in my family for dinner. Most of the time with some sugar, cocoa and butter. For breakfst: “vianočka, bábovka, chlieb, rohlíky, žemle, etc. with some butter, jam, “salám”, honey, tomatoes, cheese etc.
It’s interesting to see how different can breakfast be.
Great job!
Hi. My impression of this style of porridge is that it is almost exclusively given to children, I used to get it all the time as a young kid but I rarely saw or now see adults eating it. As for time of day, it was not considered to be exclusive to any, we ate it just as much for breakfast lunch or dinner. Essentially I think if my mother had nothing reaqdy for the kids this was always a back up, also because it is sweet and creamy it is generally popular with the kids.
We used to eat it with fruit syrup poured over, but with cocoa too. Yummm!
Krupicova kasa is made from semolina or wheatlets. Grits are corn based. You used wrong translation.
My mother used to make krupisova kasa for me and my sister when I was child but not for breakfest. Only for supper.
Mirka, you are right, Slovak krupicová kaša is semolina. However, the reason I prepared this dish with “grits” and why I also call it that is that grits is much more common in the United States. I don’t even know where to buy semolina – international food aisle perhaps? Well, I guess this depends on your grocery store. In addition, to me the word “grits” also has a visual meaning. If somebody told me he or she was making “grits with cocoa”, I could pretty much picture what the dish will look like. Semolina porridge, on the other hand, not so much. But anyway, thanks for pointing this out!
Krupicova kasa (cream of wheat, wheatlets) je vlastne hrubozrnna psenicna kasa. Grits, semolina, polenta, farine je hrubozrnna kukuricna kasa. Obidvoje dostat v kazdom obycajnom supermarkete v cerealnej aleji. Dokonca aj v Kanade.
My Slovak husband usually makes this for our daughter and I for breakfast. He makes it with Semolina (we’re in Australia), which can be found at the health food isles at any grocery shops here. We have been eating this for dinner a lot more often lately though, as this is one of the food that I crave during this pregnancy. Which is strange as I grew up in Asia and I only tasted this porridge after I met my husband. We have a bit more than just 3 thin shavings of butter though
Well you know, as they say, you can never have too much butter!
Cream of wheat is exactly what Krupicova kasa is. Great food!! I will try to make with grits. I learn always something new. All kasa is good. Enjoy! I am so happy Lubos started this website. Great food, great comments. Looking forward to new recipes.
I first had this at the hotel in Detva when we were there for the festival one year; I swear they must have cooked the farina (cream of wheat, here) in cream, it was so rich! Now I make it for breakfast occasionally as a treat (I make it with milk, not water); I don’t use cinnamon, just cocoa powder (unsweetened) and powdered sugar sifted over the top, and enough butter to give my cholesterol level a spike. Yummmmm!