Peas and Butter

Easiest (and best) Chocolate Sauce Ever!

Desserts | March 31, 2016 | By Nanette

Chocolate sauce is by far one of the easiest ways to dress up a scoop of ice cream or as a dip for fresh fruit, and there are a gazillion recipes out there. I’ve tried quite a few and always come back to this one, in our family for decades, which I tweaked slightly to take it to chocolate sauce nirvana.

It really is the simplest and easiest of all I’ve seen. Six ingredients. Boil one minute. It can’t get easier than that. But above being simple to make, it truly is the best.

Made with evaporated milk instead of cream or milk that most are and with my own added secret ingredient, it imparts a richer, denser chocolate flavor without being too overpowering or rich.

While it’s basically a “throw-everything-in-a-pot-and-cook” recipe, I would suggest mixing dry ingredients together first before adding the milk, to ensure a smooth, creamy texture and avoid lumps.

There really is little that you can do wrong in making this sauce. I store mine in a mason jar in the refrigerator. It thickens a little upon refrigeration, but it is still pourable. You can always set the jar in a saucepan of hot water for hot fudge or carefully microwave the opened jar at 30 second intervals until it reaches the desired warmth.

Our family loves it over vanilla ice cream with toasted walnuts, sliced bananas, whipped cream and maraschino cherries. It’s fabulous as a dip for peak of the season strawberries, too!

I have had little success doubling the recipe. I’m not sure why, but I’ve found it better to simply make a second batch, which of course is easy to do since it cooks so quickly.

The small cans of evaporated milk work perfectly for this recipe. If you are measuring from a larger quantity, be sure you measure accurately to 7/8 cup (3/4 c. plus 2T).