When I crave chocolate, I MUST have it.  One chocolate item that really satisfies my cravings is chocolate sauce.  I’ve even been known to eat it straight.  I am not ashamed.  Dark chocolate is good for you.

Now, I am very particular about my chocolate sauce.  It must not be too sweet.  It must not contain any orange flavor.  And, as I’ve recently discovered, it must not contain milk or cream, ½ and ½ or any other milk-like liquid because these items dilute the chocolate-y-ness.

I’ve tried recipe after recipe from my cookbooks.  I’ve tested out many recipes I found online.  I have even concocted hybrids of some of them, but nothing did the trick.  Finally, the other day, I was so tired of cleaning pots and bowls and all of the mess involved in (disappointing) stove-top chocolate sauce, that I decided to start from scratch.  And I did it in the microwave.   In one bowl.   And then I put my ice cream directly into that bowl so it was the only thing I had to clean.  The whole ordeal took about 45 seconds, including the time it took me to eat the chocolate sauce and ice cream.

I have made this recipe every day since I made it up.  It’s dangerous.

Here’s how to get some of this in your life:

 

1)      Pour 2 tablespoons of 60% cocoa, bittersweet chocolate chips into a ramekin or bowl. 

 

2)      Add 1 tablespoon of water to the chocolate chips.  (I realize this looks weird.  Trust me, it’ll be worth it in the end.)

 

3)      Cook the chocolate chip “mixture” in the microwave for 10-15 seconds on full power or until chocolate chips are melted.

 

4)      Stir together until smooth.

 

5)      Add 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract.

 

6)      Add ¼ tablespoon of butter.  It will make the chocolate sauce nice and shiny.  I like shiny things.

 

7)      Scoop out vanilla bean ice cream directly into vessel containing chocolate sauce.

 

8)      Eat and try not to repeat steps 1-7 more than 2 times in one evening.

(Please excuse the heinous fluorescent lighting in my kitchen.  It hardly does this rich chocolate sauce justice.)

You could even add a pinch of cinnamon and/or a pinch of cayenne pepper to make things a little bit more interesting.   But don’t get too carried away; the beauty of this recipe is its simplicity.  Not that sprinkling cinnamon and cayenne pepper into the mix is complicated.  You know what I mean.

This recipe makes enough for only a personal bowl of chocolate sauce, so if you need to share, I would quadruple the recipe.

Enjoy chocolate lovers!

Y’all eat up,

Sugarlump