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How to Make the Perfect Chocolate Sauce

Hurricanes slow time to a crawl! I’m always wishing time would stop, but not really while waiting for a hurricane to arrive! We ate our ice cream with chocolate sauce after lunch and I realized, again, as I do every time I make it, how l u s c i o u s this chocolate sauce is. People go crazy for it whenever I make it, so I thought I’d take my mind of this storm and give you the recipe before I forget! ♥ Here’s the scene of the crime:

I never thought I would find a chocolate sauce I like better than Hershey’s, but believe it or not, this recipe tops it. There’s a reason for that. There’s Hershey’s Syrup in it! You could say that’s brilliant, or you could say it’s cheating, but when you taste this sauce, you critique it like fine wine: “Strong flavor of dark chocolate infused with sparkling overtones of Hershey’s Syrup.” Perfect. And here comes the holidays! Timing is everything isn’t it? The recipe makes 5 cups; enough to give relish-jar-sized surprises to two girlfriends and still have a mayonnaise-jar-size left over for yourself (because they will be back, like bees to honey). ♥

In a large heavy pot, over a low flame, melt butter and unsweetened dark chocolate together….I used Scharffen Berger this time, but I’ve tried them all, and they all work.

I turned the heat up to medium and added a half cup of light Karo Corn Syrup; the magic ingredient that keeps the chocolate sauce from firming up on the ice cream and rudely sticking to the back of your teeth.

Then, stir in a cup of sugar.

Now it’s time for the potent secret weapon.

♥ ♥ ♥

Two (not one, but two) delicious cans of Hershey’s Syrup are added; continue heating until the sauce is very hot; you want the sugar to be completely melted and smooth; no longer granulated (you must taste constantly for this :-)), stir occasionally, but do not boil. (Warning: You might want to blindfold yourself for this next part until you get the ingredients in the house. Oops, too late.)

And then, stop there, fill a bowl with ice cream, and pour over the sauce (more please), add walnuts if you like them, or a spoonful of our delicious Vineyard Granola; sit down and stare into space with marveling all over your face as you spoon it into your mouth. Is it good? It’s good. Better have a little more. ♥ Then a nap, the perfect thing to do while the rest of the sauce cools down.

When you wake up, retaste the chocolate. Still fabulous? OK, pour it into whatever jars you have. You can reheat the sauce in a microwave or in a water bath right in the same jar. Do you see that smooth creamy goodness? I told you, we’re not fooling around here.

To give it as a gift, you can decorate the jar with a circle of lace or fabric, or a small doily, or if you find some of those old linen coasters in an antique store, they’re perfect to cap the jars in . . . just hook them on with a rubber band and tie a piece of ribbon around them. But I have to say, if I was given a jar of this sauce with nothing on it at all I would still be thrilled! ♥

So easy; makes about 5 cups:

1- 8 to 9 oz. box unsweetened dark chocolate squares
2 sticks butter
1/2 c. light Karo corn Syrup
1 c. sugar
2 cans Hershey’s chocolate syrup

Melt chocolate and butter in a heavy pan. Stir in rest of ingredients. Heat until very hot, so sugar melts, stir occasionally. Allow to cool to still-pourable stage, and put into jars. Reheat in jars in microwave or a pan of water. Also wonderful over profiteroles, and with vanilla ice cream and brownies. ♥

I’ve been asked, how long will this last in the fridge…in our house, it’s an extremely short time. But I would imagine, based on the ingredients, it would last as long as a can of Hershey’s Syrup.

If you don’t hear from me soon, it probably means we have no electricity. Don’t worry about us, all is well. We’re like the Unsinkable Molly Brown around here, nothing’s going to get us down. xoxo

Storm of the Century

The crickets don’t seem to know we’re in the path of a hurricane. They’re in fine form, chirping away outside my studio window at pre-dawn. Girl Kitty is calm, sleepy on her pillow, no running in circles (yet). It’s hard to believe what is apparently (very apparent on all TV stations) lurking down south.

We are very much water-based on Martha’s Vineyard. This is the harbor, three blocks from my house, normally beautiful and tranquil; now it would be called “living on the edge.” The words being used to describe this storm are frightening: weather people are giving us “Tips for Survival,” (Survival, couldn’t they just say “safety?”) — talking about: Devastation and Massive Tree Damage. We should “Develop a Plan for a Week Without Electricity,” they offer Live Team Coverage, Unprecedented Coverage of Historic Proportions; because it’s a Disaster, there will be Toppling and Crushed Cell-Phone Towers (they say, “Keep your cell phone sealed in a plastic bag!”); 2.5 Million People Under Evacuation Orders; NY City evacuating for first time in history!!! Surging, Flooding, Bashing, Storm of the Century, remove all Projectiles from your yard! Any minute they’ll announce Godzilla is in NY and heading for the island. They’re scaring my parents who’re calling me from out west. Twitter friends are worried about us.

An Adirondack chair is now considered a Projectile. Joe moved them all into the barn yesterday…. see those three trees next to the house? They don’t look so big in the picture, but they’re over a 100 years old, HUGE, and 6′ from house. We clearly do not stand a chance here, on this little blip of an island, out in the ocean. While I listen intently, try and get Joe’s attention to discuss the situation, he acts like nothing is happening. He thinks the media is so madly in love with itself it has started manufacturing hurricanes. I’m forced to ~~have a screaming fit~~ be stern with him in order to get him to put the projectiles away, to watch the TV with me. He will be having his hurricane on the end of that wharf in the first photo … who is crazy, him, or me? I don’t like my choices, either I’m a cynic, a lemming, or an idiot. I choose lemming. Out I go to do away with more projectiles…These must go…

Of course they must, especially that frog, everything comes in to the pantry until this is over.

Better safe than sorry.

Although I can’t bring myself to put my cell phone in a plastic bag, we are ready. In case of power loss, we have a gas stove, (we can cook, no going without tea); the fridge is full of food and ice; I made a big chicken salad; we have ice cream, we have chocolate sauce; we have candles; we have Rummikub; we have wine (probably the number one ingredient for a hurricane, but they never mention THAT on the TV); we’re on town water, so we’ll have water; our house is on a hill so flooding shouldn’t be happening here. Didn’t bother to fill car tanks with gas; there’s no place to go. But batteries on phone and computer are revved. Most important, the cameras both have full batteries in them! We won’t miss a thing.

This just in: Dr. Nab, Hurricane Expert, says, “Well, it’s been downgraded, it’s a weaker storm than I thought, not as big as expected.” He sounds so sad and deflated, I almost feel bad for him.

This just in from Nags Head NC, “I have to say, I thought it would be gustier at this point.” Hope is seeping into the picture; but it can turn on a dime. I’ll keep you informed, Video, as they say, at 11. (Not really, I’m in bed by 11, but video, when there’s something to take a video of . . . 🙂 We will survive!