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Chocolate Sauce


jturn00

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Thanks for the link, John.  I thought the flour seemed like an odd addition, too.
And there's no Glucose (or corn syrup) in your recipe.

So why would corn syrup be important here? Is it that the sugar needs to be a liquid? My wife has an Omnivore's Dilemma/everything's -made-of-corn problem with corn syrup, so she's wondering about potential substitutes.

What differences do you see when using the higher-end chocolates and cocoa powders? We live in a semi-rural area, so getting Valrhona or the like means a long drive and a startling price tag -- not very conducive to satisfying a spontaneous craving.

I’m back home now and can add more info now. The recipe below is just about perfect.

The corn syrup will add extra body and thickness to sauces; also, it’s an anti-crystallizing agent, keeping sauces from becoming grainy.

The chocolate you use is of utmost importance. I like Valrhona Guanaja (70% cocoa) and their Gastronomie Cocoa Powder which you can mail-order at various online retailers, including Chocosphere.

Here’s the recipe Classic Hot Fudge by David Lebovitz in ‘The Perfect Scoop’ :

3/4 c (180 ml) heavy cream

1/4 c (60 g) packed dark brown sugar

1/4 c (25 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/2 c (125 ml) light corn syrup

6 oz. (170 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 T. (15 g) salted butter

1/2 t. vanilla extract

Mix 1st four ingredients in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil. Stir often. Boil for 30 seconds.

Remove from heat and add chocolate and butter. Stir until smooth. Stir in the vanilla.

Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Reheat gently in microwave or on stovetop.

John DePaula
formerly of DePaula Confections
Hand-crafted artisanal chocolates & gourmet confections - …Because Pleasure Matters…
--------------------
When asked “What are the secrets of good cooking? Escoffier replied, “There are three: butter, butter and butter.”

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I really appreciate the input everyone has offered, and I'm sorry I haven't participated more actively in the discussion. My wife and I are leaving on a trip this morning and the preparations have consumed more time than I expected. We'll try out some of these methods when we return. Thanks!

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  • 6 years later...

I have a box of truffles that are good, but not great - my homemade ones are much better. So, I want to make something out of them.

I don't want to use them to stick inside molten chocolate cakes or chocolate cupcakes, so I was wondering what would happen if I remelted them over a double boiler. I checked online, and couldn't find any information. Would they be totally ruined if I remelted them to make a sauce? If they can be remelted, should I add a little cream and/or butter?
Edited by merstar (log)
There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with CHOCOLATE.
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With truffles you are dealing with two different things. The outside is typically pure chocolate. That of course could be remelted without issue. The inside however is typically a ganache of some sort. That isn't something you can just melt down and reuse.

If you really want to try this, I would heat it just enough so that the shells become soft and try blending it all together with an immersian blender. This will basically give you a ganache that has more chocolate than it needs and you could maybe use that as a filling for your own truffles, but even then I have no idea what that would taste like or what the shelf life would be like.

Actually, the more I think about this, the more I think it's a horrible idea. The truffles you have now have a limited shelf life from when they were made. You melting them down will not increase that shelf life. Plus you don't like them as is and whatever you make from them isn't going to be all that much better than what they are now.

My advice is to either eat them as is, give them away, or worst case just toss them. Then just start fresh with ingredients you really like and go from there. The key with truffles is to start with very high quality ingredients that you really like. If you start with something you don't care for, there's not much you can do. But that's just my thoughts on it. Good luck and let us know how it turns out if you try to melt them down.

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Actually, I went ahead and melted them with a little heavy cream, and it resulted in a beautiful, smooth sauce. I added a tsp vanilla extract, and the sauce tasted delicious - way better than the original truffles.

Edited by merstar (log)
There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with CHOCOLATE.
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If they have a ganache center - melting and adding some cream will just give a nice liquid ganache that could be used as a sauce - just like you did! Well done!

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Thanks, Kerry! I couldn't believe how great it turned out - I kept spooning it out of the bowl to taste, and had to force myself to stop! After all, I need to save some to pour over vanilla ice cream!

Edited by merstar (log)
There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with CHOCOLATE.
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  • 9 years later...

I am looking for a recipe for a fantastic chocolate sauce (maybe with some bourbon or other yummy secondary flavor). Does anyone have a recipe they love and would pass along? I am thinking of a sauce that would be thick and rich and be stored in a jar and warmed up to pour over ice cream, etc....

 

Thanks!

Edited by Smithy
Adjusted title for clarity (log)
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Here's a link to one we've enjoyed, it's from Maida Heatter.  I'm pretty sure Rose Levy Beranbaum has a chocolate sauce recipe as well but I haven't made it.  Both of these authors are good, I've never had a recipe fail from either one.   You can add whatever you like - bourbon, coffee extract....

 

Maida Heatter Chocolate Sauce

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If you're looking for more intensity and a more "chocolate-forward" sauce, it's hard to beat a water ganache. There's no dairy to mute the chocolate flavor. This is one I adapted from James Peterson (he calls it "chocolate butter sauce.") It takes a bit more care in reheating than ganache-based sauces.

 

Use chocolate in the ~70% cocoa solids range. If the sauce will be featured in a dish, use a good one. 

 

120g / 4 oz bittersweet chocolate 
            (if liquid used is sweet, you can use 3-1/2 oz. bittersweet and 1/2 oz unsweetened)
90g / 3 oz liquid (water, strong coffee, liqueur, fruit brandy, fortified wine, whisky, etc.). Mix 'n match to taste.
45g / 1.5 oz butter, cool, in small pieces

 

-melt chocolate in the liquid over medium-low heat in a saucepan. keep liquid well below a simmer.
-lower heat or remove from heat, and swirl in the butter. if you do it a few chunks at a time and keep the temperature moderate, the butter and chocolate will stay emulsified, and you will have a glassy-smooth texture, like ganache but with a greater sheen.

notes: 
-amount of liquid can be varied to control consistency
-this is a more fragile emulsion than ganache, so be careful if you need to reheat it. let it come to room temperature slowly, without disturbing it. then heat in a water bath over water that's below a simmer.

 

Edited by paulraphael (log)

Notes from the underbelly

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9 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

If you're looking for more intensity and a more "chocolate-forward" sauce, it's hard to beat a water ganache. There's no dairy to mute the chocolate flavor. This is one I adapted from James Peterson (he calls it "chocolate butter sauce.") It takes a bit more care in reheating than ganache-based sauces.

 

Use chocolate in the ~70% cocoa solids range. If the sauce will be featured in a dish, use a good one. I used to use a blend of Valrhona chocolates (guanaja/manjari). Now I prefer a single origin Michel Cluizel, like los Ancones. Plain old Callebaut is still pretty good.  

 

120g / 4 oz bittersweet chocolate 
            (if liquid used is sweet, you can use 3-1/2 oz. bittersweet and 1/2 oz unsweetened)
90g / 3 oz liquid (water, strong coffee, liqueur, fruit brandy, fortified wine, whisky, etc.). Mix 'n match to taste.
45g / 1.5 oz butter, cool, in small pieces

 

-melt chocolate in the liquid over medium-low heat in a heavy saucepan. keep liquid well below a simmer.
-lower heat or remove from heat, and swirl in the butter. if you do it all right and keep the temperature moderate, the butter and chocolate will stay emulsified, and you will have a glassy-smooth texture, like ganache but with a greater sheen.

notes: 
-amount of liquid can be varied to control consistency
-this is a more fragile emulsion than ganache, so be careful if you need to reheat it. let it come to room temperature slowly, without disturbing it. then heat in a water bath over water that's below a simmer.

(adapted from Peterson)

I made a water ganache a long time ago and really liked it.  I don't remember exactly how I did it.  In your instructions, when do you add the liquid?

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38 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I made a water ganache a long time ago and really liked it.  I don't remember exactly how I did it.  In your instructions, when do you add the liquid?

 

There's enough liquid that you can melt the chocolate directly into it. I usually heat the liquid in a saucepan first. Hot enough to melt chocolate but well below simmering. Then stir in the chocolate. It should go right into an emulsion. 

 

You can take it off the heat (or turn heat very low) before similarly stirring in the butter.

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Notes from the underbelly

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