A Taste of Home

In an age of pot-de-creme and creme brulee, my mother's favorite dessert is still a chocolate sundae with vanilla ice cream and toasted nuts.  She eats sundaes at home, out in restaurants (even when it's not on the menu) and, this week, she brought sundaes over for Survivor Wednesday (thanks Mom!).  I too, love a sundae, simple but harmonious, while I can eat them without nuts, my mother has nuts on hand at all times just in case a sundae might come by.  Easy and delicious, I've never met anyone who didn't love a sundae.

CHOCOLATE SAUCE
A straightforward ganache — chocolate and cream — with a two-to-one ratio of cream to chocolate. Some sugar, in the form of corn syrup, is added, primarily for consistency. The chocolate sauce is only as good as the chocolate you use, so use the best you can.

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, such as Valrhona Equatoriale, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup light corn syrup

Place the chocolate in a metal bowl.

Combine the cream and corn syrup in a small heavy nonreactive saucepan and bring to a simmer. Pour the liquid over the chocolate and allow it to sit for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the chocolate has melted. Whisk to combine. Allow the sauce to cool slightly, then pour into a bowl or other container. (Stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered, the sauce will keep for up to 2 weeks.)

To serve, warm the sauce gently in the top of a double boiler or in the microwave.  Makes about 2 cups.

NOTE: The recipe and introductory text above are excerpted from Thomas Keller's Bouchon.

NOTE #2: I don't generally cook with corn syrup and don't know if plain sugar can be substituted.  But it is Keller, so I imagine he is using the sweetening agent he feels is the best for the sauce, as he says, for consistency (it helps prevent crystallization). 

Comments

[Calichef]

You have the reason for using the corn syrup exactly right. It is a hydroscopic sugar and keeps sweets from crystalizing in undesireable ways. It is particularly useful when making caramel or butterscotch sauces and pecan pies.