Hot Fudge Sauce

If you have tried my Ultimate Brownie you know that it stands alone as a delicious dessert. But if you want to take it further, just add some vanilla ice cream and some amazing Hot Fudge Sauce! Here is the recipe for my favorite. If you lived in the New York area and are old enough to remember Schraffts restaurants, this should bring back some happy memories…

Hot Fudge Sauce


Ingredients:

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
⅓ cup dark brown sugar, packed
½ cup light corn syrup
⅔ cup heavy cream
¼ teaspoon salt
6 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter cut into fairly small pieces
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Combine cocoa, sugar, corn syrup, cream, salt and half of chocolate in a 2 quart heavy saucepan and cook, stirring, over medium heat until chocolate is melted. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and add rest of chocolate and remaining ingredients and stir until smooth. Cool slightly.

Leftovers may be stored in the refrigerator for 10 days.

This sauce makes a wonderful hostess gift - just pack in a pretty jar and add a ribbon! Of course, some Ultimate Brownies along with the sauce would be even more wonderful.



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Five Minute Desserts

Five minute desserts.  Sound too good to be true?  It’s not, if you do just a little advance planning.  Good vanilla ice cream, instant espresso powder and coffee or amaretto liqueur and you have a delicious ending for almost any meal.  Add a homemade cookie if you have them on hand for an extra treat.

Coffee Liqueur Coupe

1 generous scoop vanilla ice cream
A sprinkling of instant espresso powder
1 or 2 tablespoons of coffee liqueur (or amaretto)

WATCH THE VIDEO DEMONSTRATION:

                                              

Nabisco’s Famous Chocolate Wafers keep in the pantry for weeks and are the basis for a number of great desserts.  The recipe for the original chocolate log is on the package but you can make it a bit more sophisticated.  Just add a little of your favorite liqueur and an appropriate topping.

Coffee and Cream Chocolate Cookie Stacks

1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks with 2 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla

⅓ cup coffee liqueur, in a shallow dish
16 chocolate wafers

Place a dab of whipped cream on a dessert plate (this will “anchor” the dessert)
Quickly dip a cookie in the liqueur and place it on the plate.

Spread the cookie with whipped cream and top it with another dipped cookie.
Repeat until you have a stack of 4 cookies.  

Top with more whipped cream and add a chocolate-covered coffee bean or some chocolate sprinkles.

Make 3 more stacks in the same manner.
Place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours to allow cookies to soften.

You can try the following variations:

Amaretto liqueur and top with a few toasted sliced almonds.
Crème de menthe and tint your cream a pale green, top with some chocolate curls.
Framboise liqueur and top with a raspberry
Grand Marnier and top with some orange zest

Of course these can be made using just whipped cream and topped with colored
sprinkles!

WATCH THE VIDEO DEMONSTRATION: