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Chocolate
4 tablespoons sugar Pinch of salt 1 level tablespoon flour 1 cup boiling water 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate 2 level tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon vanilla Mix the sugar and flour thoroughly in a saucepan; pour on the boiling water; add chocolate, butter and salt; cook until the chocolate is thoroughly dissolved and the mixture thickened. Stir constantly to prevent sticking. When the steam has passed off, add the vanilla and set aside to cool.
Despite the bare title, this is a chocolate sauce for pouring over ice cream, not a frozen dessert in itself. It is a small, quick recipe and the only real difficulty is lumping.
- Mix dry first, and mean itThe sugar and flour must be rubbed together until no flour is visible before the boiling water goes in. Sugar keeps the flour grains apart; skip this and you get lumps that no amount of stirring will beat out.
- One ounce of chocolateUnsweetened baking chocolate, historically sold in squares of about one ounce; modern bars are not always portioned the same way, so weigh rather than count squares. Chop it before adding so it melts before the flour has a chance to scorch on the bottom.
- How long is "cook until thickened"About 4 to 5 minutes at a bare simmer over medium heat. Flour needs to actually boil to lose its raw taste and reach full thickening power, so do not pull it off the moment it looks glossy.
- Flour, not cornstarchFlour gives a slightly opaque, clinging sauce rather than the clear glaze cornstarch produces. If you substitute cornstarch use about half the amount and stop cooking as soon as it thickens, since prolonged boiling thins it again.
- "When the steam has passed off"Let it cool for a few minutes before the vanilla goes in. Vanilla extract contains a good deal of alcohol and its aroma flashes off in a hot pan.
- Yield and servingRoughly one cup, enough for six to eight servings of ice cream. It thickens considerably as it cools; warm it gently with a spoonful of water or milk if it sets too stiff.
- KeepingRefrigerate in a covered jar and use within about a week. The butter will firm up solid when cold, which is normal.
Chocolate sauce of this kind belongs to the American soda-fountain and ice-cream era, when unsweetened chocolate sold in squares made a convenient home version of what the drugstore counter served over vanilla. Flour and butter thickening was one common approach for dessert sauces of the period, alongside cornstarch.