Chocolate Fudge Sauce

Even if you don't have an ice cream maker (and an overboard obsession with said ice cream maker), you can still make your own homemade hot fudge.  This is "lean" chocolate sauce because it doesn't contain any cream or butter.    In all honesty, I wouldn't have made this recipe if I had any cream leftover, and I wouldn't have made any chocolate sauce at all if John hadn't essentially demanded it.  Now I knew he preferred chocolate ice cream, but he was the one who requested vanilla...so naturally I thought that would be enough.  Little did I know that this request was accompanied by a hot fudge demand as well.  Luckily, David Lebovitz, saved the day with a quick easy chocolate fudge sauce that even my picky husband deemed acceptable.

Just pretend the glass of water I was drinking out of at the time was the 1 cup of water I need for the recipe.  So if you can play along, then everything else you need is 1/2 cup (50 g) unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder, 2 oz (57 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, and 1/2 cup light corn syrup.

In a medium saucepan (ideally one larger than the one I used), whisk together the water, cocoa powder, and corn syrup.  Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring often.

Remove pan from heat and add in 2 oz chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate.  (Excuse the cocoa powder stain on stage left.)

Whisk until all the chocolate melts and you have a delicious chocolate sauce.  It will be thin, but will thicken in the fridge (always serve warm, though).

Serve over whatever ice cream you have on hand, be it homemade vanilla or Edy's Slow-Churned Cookie Dough (my old standby).  Everyone loves chocolate sauce, and consider yourself a saint for making one without butter or cream.  Hey, it's all relative, right?

Chocolate Fudge Sauce
From The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1 cup water
1/2 cup (50 g) unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 oz (57 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Whisk 1 cup water, 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder, and 1/2 cup light corn syrup together in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  After it boils, reduce the heat to very low and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring often.  Remove pan from heat and add 2 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chopped chocolate.  Stir the mixture until the chocolate melts.  Serve warm over your favorite ice cream.

Chocolate sauce can keep for up to two weeks covered in a refrigerator.  Rewarm sauce in microwave (be careful not to overheat) or in a saucepan over low heat.