During last year’s Christmas season, Luisa Weiss (The Wednesday Chef) featured a post about Nancy Silverton’s Hot Fudge Sauce. I filed it away in the “to try” file. Then I scored a 5 lb. bag of Scharffen Berger chocolate for $10 at Ocean State Job Lot, one of my favorite places to scout for bargains.
As soon as I got the bag of chocolate home, I knew what I’d be making for teacher gifts this year. The recipe was really easy and has delivered very consistent results. This hot fudge sauce is intensified with coffee and heightened with cognac.
My version has a few slight variations: I doubled the amount of sugar, added a generous pinch of kosher salt and added some vanilla extract. This chocolate sauce is so rich and thick; it is intensely and fantastically flavored.
I call it Hot Fudge Sauce for Grown Ups because Marco, my Hershey Bar loving husband, told me “it isn’t my favorite.” While Lollie, my über-sophisticated daughter who is exceptionally mature for her years exclaimed that she would like to make hot fudge sundaes for dinner!
Hot Fudge Sauce for Grown Ups
Adapted from The Wednesday Chef, originally written in the LA Times.
7 1/2 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
generous pinch kosher salt
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. instant coffee granuales or instant expresso
3 Tbsp. cognac or brandy
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Keep chocolate warm over double boiler until ready to use. Alternatively, chocolate can be carefully melted in a microwave.
Bring the sugar, salt, corn syrup, water, cocoa and coffee to a boil in a large sauce pan over medium-hight heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir constantly until mixture is smooth. Cocoa and sugar will dissolve. Whisk in the warm, melted chocolate and bring to a boil. The hot fudge is thick and the surface should be shiny.
Remove from heat, stir in cognac and vanilla. Transfer hot fudge to storage container (s). The recipe makes about 2 1/3 cups. The hot fudge solidifies when cooled. To re-heat, warm container in a big bowl of hot water or microwave on medium power to achieve desired consistency.
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