With a few pantry ingredients and about five minutes of time, you can whip together a chocolate syrup that is so unbelievably good it doesn’t even deserve the same name as they store-bought kind. It’s so good, you’ll feel sorry for every poor creature out there who has never had the opportunity to taste this elixir.
Intensely Chocolate Syrup
It’s so good, you’ll want to force it on your friends, neighbors, coworkers…but wait – that would mean you’d have. to. share.
Perhaps you’ll just want to pass the recipe on to those undeserving cretins, those lesser mortals who know not what they are missing, and keep yours all to your enlightened self.
Luckily, it is an affordable luxury…
Best of all, this has very few ingredients you won’t recognize: Cocoa, Sugar, Water and a scant two tablespoons of Corn Syrup (it helps make this a bit thicker and prevents crystallization, but could be left out in a pinch.)
Amendment to post: I just made this with regular old cocoa and it was very good, but not nearly as good as when I used the Hershey’s Special Blend, which is part plain old cocoa and part Dutch processed.
Intensely Chocolate Syrup
Intensely Chocolate Syrup
-
3 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups Dutch-processed cocoa or a mix like Hershey’s Special Dark
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
In a small pan, whisk sugar and cocoa together. Slowly add water, stirring to blend water and sugar/cocoa mix. Add corn syrup.
Bring to a boil (watch carefully as this can boil over) whisking frequently. Turn down to a simmer and reduce sauce until slightly thickened, just a moment or two. (It will thicken a lot more as it cools.) Cool slightly and add the vanilla and salt.
This can be stored in a jar or a squeeze bottle. If using a plastic squeeze bottle, mixture should be cooled to room temperature before adding.
Slightly adapted from Alton Brown, although amazingly close to my Mother’s recipe.
from the kitchen of http://www.frugalhausfrau.com
Serving a dessert in a “fancy” glass serves two purposes –
- It helps trick the mind that what you are getting is really special, and therefore worthy of slowly savoring in a small amount.
- It helps keep portions under control.
Well, the above, and it looks cooler in a photograph…and gives me a chance to pull out the glassware every now and then…
Spray the spoon you’ll measure the Corn Syrup in with a little oil and the syrup will slide out with no problem.
Sticky items will come out cleanly if spoons or cups are sprayed with cooking spray.
Let’s talk about how to save money/time on this recipe:
- Use a coupon matching site! One of my favorites in my area is Pocket Your Dollars, but every store has a group of enthusiastic Coupon Matchers. Do not discount the savings! I check their site every week, even if I don’t “need” to go to the store and often find bargains I can’t pass up.
- Follow my 12 Strategies – You’ll see them on the upper drop down menu of every page and how I apply them, below.
- Don’t get discouraged if your prices don’t match mine! Keep shopping at the best prices and your fridge/freezer and pantry will be stocked with sales priced ingredients.
- Read {Strategies Applied} for additional tips as well as throughout the recipe, for saving time and managing food.
If you get a notification like above, start collecting coupons or check with a coupon ordering site – there is almost always a great sale during the Catalina’s time period, and combined with the coupons, it’s generally easy to get the product for free. Vanilla is normally a bit expensive, but I haven’t paid for it in years.
I apologize I no longer remember the source for this recipe, but possibly it was an Alton Brown invention. Love him! 🙂
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