Homemade Chocolate Sauce

I wasn't going to post this recipe because anybody can get a recipe of chocolate sauce off the internet, it's so basic.  But after the past week of having this magic little jar in the refrigerator, I decided this was something special.  I never even got a photo of it until now; a week later and it's pretty much gone.  Lauren came over for dinner last night and we basically finished it off.  I made a pork roast with garlic and roasted some carrots and potatoes, one of my favorite fall meals.  The flowers are compliments of the Pike Place Market that my brother and his wife picked up for us while they were visiting Seattle last week.  

My brother is the reason I made the chocolate sauce in the first place.  He likes a café mocha for his morning coffee.  The second day they were here, they walked up to the store to pick up a few items and I told him I didn't have any chocolate sauce so he better buy some.  Well, they forgot.  So, while they were out with friends, I decided to just make some and here it is.  Little did I know what an effect this little jar would have on everyone all week.  First of all, it made a great mocha.  You have to heat the sauce up in the microwave to thin it out a bit since it thickens when refrigerated. And then some of it settles at the bottom of the cup as you drink your mocha.  That's because it doesn't have chemicals in it that keep it emulsified like commercial brands. Nobody likes eating chemicals, right?  So a little separation isn't that bothersome.  It's actually kinda fun to take a spoon and scrape the remaining chocolate out of the bottom of the cup at the end of your coffee drink; a final little burst of chocolate at the end.  Nobody complained.  I made myself a mocha one night after dinner when my nephew and his wife came over for dinner on the third night of my bother's visit.  I had made my Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp for dessert that I picked from my nephew's garden

but the mocha coffee drinks were the star of the show.  I had to make one for myself to try it out and that was it!  Then the next night, my brother and his wife went to the Seattle Sounders soccer game.

 When they returned,  Bruce suggested some leftover strawberry rhubarb crisp or ice cream with that chocolate sauce.  They got a little carried away after I mentioned we also had strawberries leftover from the crisp, plus some raspberries, bananas, etc. and they ended up making banana splits.  We also just happened to have whipped cream and nuts.  They couldn't eat them fast enough! I mean, when was the last time anybody had a banana split?  

                               

The first words out of Bruce's mouth was "This doesn't taste like Hershey's chocolate sauce at all."  I know...We ran out of ice cream after that but my brother said he would have had seconds if we hadn't run out.  The next day, it was another trip to the store and got more ice cream.  Anyway, to make a long story short, that chocolate sauce barely lasted a week.  And then last night when Lauren came over, I asked her if she wanted a banana split (since we were so good at making them by now) and she said she'd just have a mocha.  And that was it for her, too.  "OMG, this is a really good mocha..."  I realized, I needed to post the recipe after she asked me how I made it.  I'd been asked that question all week.  When I looked up the recipe, I realized that there are a lot of different recipes of chocolate sauce.  I made the simplest one from a blog called Barefoot in the Kitchen and used heavy cream for the liquid.  The recipes list everything from water to milk.  I always have heavy cream for my coffee so I used that.  I figured I wasn't going to make a "healthy" chocolate sauce so whatever...it passed the taste test with flying colors.  Here's my recipe.  Don't expect your little jar of chocolate sauce to last very long in the fridge, tho.  It will have a mysterious way of disappearing fast.  

Makes 14 oz. (I doubled the recipe)

1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla


1. In a cold saucepan, whisk together the cocoa and the sugar until all lumps are removed. Add the salt.

2. Add the heavy cream and bring to a boil over medium to medium high heat.

3. Reduce to a simmer; stirring constantly.

4. Simmer for 30 seconds, then remove from heat.

5. Let cool and then add vanilla.

6. Pour into a glass jar and refrigerate until needed.

The chocolate sauce will be very thin when it finishes boiling, but it will thicken quite a bit as it cools. The chocolate sauce may be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Simply reheat before serving.