Easy Chocolate Sauce

A few weeks ago I had a friend over for an impromptu dinner in. I had some delicious ice cream in the freezer but felt like it needed a little something extra to make it even better.

I have memories of a simple, delicious chocolate sauce that I made once when I was younger. It was that perfect almost chewy consistency that a good fudge sauce has. Unfortunately, that cookbook is sitting at home on my mom's shelf so I don't have the recipe but the results of the one I found online were very similar. I had to work with what I had in the house to I stayed away from a lot of the recipes I found that called for cream and melted chocolate. This one is made up of ingredients I always have at home and it was so simple to make. Five minutes is all you need.

Chocolate Sauce

recipe slightly adapted from foodess
Makes about 1 cup

• 6 tablespoons (1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) white sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• splash of vanilla
• pinch of salt

In a large microwave-safe bowl or large glass measuring cup (I used a 2 cup measure), combine sugar, cocoa and milk. Cook on high 2-3 minutes, until sugar dissolves and mixture boils.

You can see how far up the sides the mix went while  it was boiling

Stir in the butter and cook on high 2-4 minutes more, watching closely and stirring every 30 seconds or so, until mixture thickens. Once it's reached your desired thickness stir in vanilla and a pinch of salt. I wait for it to cool down but it would delicious served hot over ice cream or cake.

Nice and shiny

You can easily double the recipe (as it was originally provided on foodess). Just be warned that it will make a lot of sauce and you'll definitely need to use a large bowl or 4 to 6 cup measure if you're going to make it in the microwave to avoid a huge mess. It's amazing how much the mixture expands while it's cooking. I think I overcooked this batch a bit. When it cooled down it was really thick and sticky. I put it in the microwave for 10 seconds before serving and it was just fine.

This stuff would be delicious on top of just about anything but I opted to put it on my current favorite ice cream from President's Choice (at Loblaws or Superstore in Canada). The vanilla base is nice and creamy and, at $3 a container, you can't beat the price. This one seems to be pretty popular. I mean, who doesn't love chocolate and peanut butter? If you don't, I'm not sure we can be friends. It isn't always on the shelf so, if it appeals to you, I recommend you grab some when you see it.

What's your favorite ice cream topping?