Get Cooking_ 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen - Mollie Katzen [103]
The sauce will keep in a tightly covered jar in the refrigerator for 2 months or longer. It will become solid, so you’ll need to reheat it in the microwave (or by gently warming the jar in a pot of water over medium heat). You can also just eat it cold with a spoon if you’re urgently craving a chocolate truffle fix.
1 pint heavy cream (that’s the big container, or two of the smaller ones)
½ cup dark corn syrup
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons plus
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (some for the sauce, some for the whipped cream)
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons sugar (powdered or granulated)
Excellent ice cream (at least a pint, maybe more; your choice of flavors)
1. Measure out 2/3 cup of the cream and pour it into a medium-small saucepan. Put the remaining unused cream back in the refrigerator for now.
2. Add the corn syrup and chocolate chips to the cream in the pan, and place it on the stove over medium-low heat. Whisk it slowly as it heats and the chocolate melts. Keep cooking and whisking over medium-low heat. Bubbles will begin to form around the sides. When it starts to boil, turn the heat to low and simmer, whisking often, for 3 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat, and slowly whisk in the 2 teaspoons vanilla and the butter. Cover the pan and set it aside.
4. Take the remaining cream out of the refrigerator, and pour it into a medium-large bowl. (Extra space is needed because the cream will double in volume when whipped.) Beat the cream—vigorously—with the largest whisk you have. (You can also use a handheld electric mixer; just be very careful not to overbeat the cream, or you’ll have butter.) Be patient, and keep whipping. It will take about 3 minutes for the cream to start frothing. After that point, add the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla and the sugar. Continue to whip, paying close attention to the condition of the cream as it expands and thickens. You get to decide when it’s ready.
5. Put a teaspoon or two of the hot fudge sauce at the bottom of each serving dish. Cover this with a scoop of the ice cream. Spoon on more of the fudge, and top with a dollop of whipped cream.
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GET CREATIVE
Sprinkle on some chopped toasted walnuts or almonds.
Top each serving with a strawberry or a maraschino cherry.
Layer slices of banana in with the ice cream.
Layer in some fresh berries (slice larger ones; leave smaller ones whole), or use frozen unsweetened berries (defrost them in a bowl to collect the juices, which you can drizzle on as a second sauce).
To make a brownie sundae, put an Intensely Chocolate Brownie (Chapter 9: Desserts) in a small bowl. Top with a scoop of ice cream, a spoonful of hot fudge sauce, and a dollop of whipped cream.
Sprinkle crumbled cookies over the ice cream and again over the whipped cream. Use any kind you like; amaretti (Italian almond cookies) are particularly good.
Garnish each sundae with a small cookie, stuck jauntily into the whipped cream.
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balsamic strawberries
Makes 3 to 4 servings
A perfect strawberry, deeply red and exquisitely ripe, should just be eaten. But here’s a traditional Italian treatment to enhance those less-than-perfect ones. You simply cut them and let them marinate in sugar for a few hours. Then, shortly before serving, you sprinkle them with sweet-and-tangy balsamic vinegar, and they magically spring to life. This works fine with any good-quality balsamic vinegar.
This recipe is vegan.
2 pints (1 quart) strawberries
¼ cup sugar (possibly more)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (possibly more)
1. Clean the strawberries by wiping them with a damp paper towel. Hull them, and then halve or slice them, depending on their size.
2. Place the strawberries in a shallow pan (a 10-inch glass pie pan works well) and sprinkle with the sugar.
3. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and