Foodie Fridays: Hot Fudge Sauce

While many people in Boston (and on the East Coast in general) are scrambling to prepare for the insanity that Irene is supposed to bring, I've had a pretty awesome and laid-back evening. After an excellent meal at Radius with my friends (and seriously, if you've never been, you need to go), I went home and made hot fudge sauce. I know that this isn't great hurricane prep, but at least it helped me use up some cream that had been languishing in my fridge and it made me feel much more productive than I actually was this evening.

This recipe is so easy that you will wonder why you didn't make your own hot fudge sauce before. Yes, it requires three decadent things (chocolate, heavy cream, and corn syrup), but that is all it requires, meaning that you don't get anything unknown in your sauce. Also, it lasts a while in the fridge (not that it will be around that long), and after all is said and done, it probably costs around $8.00 in ingredients and 10 minutes of your time. If you want a delicious and impressive dessert without having to spend a lot of time or money, this sauce over small scoops of good ice cream or gelato (or even good quality, store-bought pound cake or cheesecake). A sprinkle of toasted nuts, toasted coconut, cocoa nibs, or even crushed coffee beans would be a nice, but totally optional, touch. Sometimes, less is definitely more.

Hot Fudge Sauce (from Betsy Block's Mama Cooks website with a minor tweak):

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 pound of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• Dash of vanilla (optional)
• Pinch of salt (optional)

1. Heat the cream in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until small bubbles form.

2. Add the chocolate chips and corn syrup to the cream. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for five minutes.

3. At the end of cooking, add a dash of vanilla and a pinch of salt, if desired. Pour over ice cream, cheesecake, or whatever else you desire. Store leftovers in the fridge & heat in the microwave as needed.