Hot Fudge Sauce

Makes about 2 cups

These luscious liquids are among chocolate's crowning glories. Rich, gleaming sauces and foamy drinks are treats to be savored in conjunction with plain desserts or to put rich ones over the top. This is one of those really rich hot fudge sauces that hardens as it hits ice cream. It's great to use as the sauce for a brownie sundae!

1/4 cup water
1 cup light corn syrup
1-1/3 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate,
coarsely chopped
1/3 cup alkalized (Dutch process) cocoa powder
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Combine water, corn syrup, and sugar in a nonreactive pan and bring to a boil, stirring often, until all the sugar crystals have melted. Boil 1 minute without stirring.

2. Remove from heat and add the salt and the chocolate. Allow to stand 2 minutes until chocolate has melted, then whisk smooth.

3. Sift the cocoa into a mixing bowl and stir in enough of the liquid mixture to make a paste, then stir the cocoa paste smoothly back into the syrup.

4. Whisk in the remaining ingredients.

5. Store the sauce in a tightly covered jar in the refrigerator. Reheat over simmering water before serving.

Chocolate
From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers
By Nick Malgieri
Harper Collins Publishers, October 1998
Hard cover, $35.00
Color photographs throughout
Photography by Tom Eckerle
ISBN: 0-06-018711-5
Recipe Reprinted by permission.