Friday, August 29, 2008

shhhhh! secret recipes...

My mother is famous for many wonderful things, but her sundae sauces seem to get the most applause. I think my husband might have married me for the secret recipe. She's been making hot fudge for as long as I can remember and about ten years ago started making butterscotch sauce too. These toppings take a simple bowl of ice cream to unearthly heights...I'm talking sublime. She keeps a jar or two in the fridge just in case we drop by. Now, we eat a very healthy, organic, and whole food diet... but I throw it all out the window when I see these glass jars next to the ice cream scoop.
I always thought they were some secret recipe...turns out she's been sharing them all along. Well, then of course I had to share it with all of you. Be prepared...once you make it, your family will ask for them again and again! Try them hot over ice cream... alone or together...topped with homemade whipped cream for a sundae. How about a sundae bar where everyone can make their own customized desserts.

from Gifts From the Kitchen

All- American Hot Fudge Sauce

1/2 cup butter
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup light cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. In a heavy sauce pan melt the butter and chocolate together.
2. Mix the cocoa with the 1/4 cup sugar and stir in. Add the cream, the the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.
3. Remove from heat immediately and add vanilla. Cool, then Refrigerate.

* Heat before serving by placing container in pan of hot water until sauce reaches pouring consistency


Butterscotch Sauce

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup (this is my one exception to the no corn syrup rule)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla

1. In a heavy sauce pan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, cream, butter, and salt. Bring to a boil and stir constantly until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Insert a candy thermometer and continue cooking until temperature reaches 238 degrees F.
3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Edit: Both sauces should be stored in the fridge, but keep quite well for a long time...not that we've ever been able to make them last "a long time"!

We've also enjoyed these sauces warm over waffles (for dessert, of course) and crepes.

Hope your weekend is filled with end of the summer treats! Pin It

27 comments:

  1. *Groan*

    Homemade butterscotch?

    But I just polished off a jar of maple cappuccino butterscotch sauce! (I KNOW - crazy combo, but it was goooood)

    You're killing me here.

    ReplyDelete
  2. YUM! thanks for sharing. i'm thinking these would make nice homemade xmas gifts! happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the idea of giving them as gifts!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I will be making this stat! What a perfect surprise for this relaxing weekend...thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I can not find corn syrup here, just the maple one. Do you mean with the no syrup that hthis recipe can be made without corn syrup?????

    ReplyDelete
  6. Celia- not sure what would be the same is Spain, sorry! The note in the rule might have been unclear...I usually stay away from corn syrup in my cooking and eating because it is such a highly refined sweetener...I haven't tried this recipe without it, but there must be a substitute...I'll check around.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh man...if I make this I'll get pregnant again I just know it. All the good recipes that I find end up giving my husband that little "twinkle" in his eye...and then KABLOWEE I end up pregnant again!

    ReplyDelete
  8. My brother just sent me an ice cream maker, so now I can have totally made-at-home Sundaes on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...thank you!

    Celia-I believe you can get Golden Syrup in Spain (it's a British product, so if not hit up any visitors from England to bring you some). If not, I bet homemade simple syrup with a bit of honey added would do the trick.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've tagged you. Look at my blog for the rules. Join in if you like.

    Those sauces look yummie!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh, yum yum yum! I've made hot fudge, but the butterscotch would be such a treat. Maybe both at the same time, or is that not allowed? I'd love to know how to can these (for keeping on a shelf)...they'd make great gifts!
    Also, I've wondered if the corn syrup you buy at the store (e.g. Karo) is as bad as the 'high-fructose' variety that I avoid too. Hmmm. I'd hate to have to cut my homemade pecan rolls out for their corn syrup content!

    ReplyDelete
  11. The butterscotch sauce sounds delicious. That's one of my favorite flavors.

    How long will they they last before going bad? They don't have to be refrigerated?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Costume-gal: how wonderful to have a completely homemade sundae!
    Thanks for all of your wonderful tips on corn syrup in Europe. Golden Syrup does seem close.
    Amanda: I do use Karo and yes from what I gather it's the same highly refined sweetener in everything these days. Somehow this sauce seems like a worthy candidate to escape my ban.
    Kawaii crafter: Thanks for catching my slip...I only said to refrigerate the fudge. I've added an edit to the post. They both need refrigeration, but do keep for a long time.

    ReplyDelete
  13. WOW! Homemade topping sound like the ultimate indulgence... I might have to try this!

    ReplyDelete
  14. The sauces sound delicious but what prompted me to write was that old drying rack. A roomate of mine had one and we used it as our "green" Christmas tree during the holidays. It was adorable!

    ReplyDelete
  15. why you do this?? here i am trying not to eat ice cream -- this sauce could be the end of me! people that can eat nutella from the jar should not be exposed to such temptations!

    this is going to sound gross and pathetic but i am trying to work out if i could come up with a shabby vegan incarnation of this sauce.

    let me see...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Mary, what a great idea for the drying rack! Love thinking of string lights around it!

    Zuk Zuk- I used to be vegan, even managed a vegan restaurant. I think that the hot fudge would work with soy milk for the cream and vegetable spread for the butter (maybe New Balance). Butterscotch is trickier, but worth trying with the same substitutes don't you think? Let me know how it goes.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yep, Christmas gifts to go with my homemade jam, and homemade bath scrubs. Bookmarking these for sure!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I made this sauce (sooo good!) but I was wondering if I cooked it too long, or not enough? It goes really hard & chewy, especially over cold ice cream. I had imagined it being more liquidy and sauce like. hmmm...

    ReplyDelete
  19. WOW, this is crazy good! Just tested a batch for an ice-cream sundae party we're hosting & can't walk past it without swiping my finger through the bowl. I added a few drops of butter rum flavoring in addition to the vanilla and it's like liquid lifesavers! At this rate it won't even make it onto the ice cream.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Yum. I just made both of these for home and to share with two dear friends I work with. Wow, if they weren't already lifelong friends, these sauces would cinch the deal! Thanks so much for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh no. Now I have the same problem as Laura. Once the butterscotch sauce completely cooled, it became hard and unchewable as soon as the rewarmed sauce hits the ice cream. Next time I will try cooking it to a softer state. Still, delicious experiments!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Tango, I think the problem was overcooking... shouldn't get hard! At least, it's a yummy way to experiment!

    ReplyDelete
  23. These both look amazing! I wonder if half-and-half would work as well as cream? (That's what's in my fridge right now :-))

    ReplyDelete
  24. These still are AMAZINGLY good! My beloved colleagues have asked when I'll be making these sauces again. I've frantically looked through my recipes, and my downloads, and my bookmarks, and yipppeeeee, I finally was able to search through favorite blogs and relocate the recipes! The butterscotch is exceptional over top a good cheesecake. (PS. I solved the hard butterscotch issue by cooking based on time, not temp; about 5 mins.)

    ReplyDelete
  25. these sauces are absolutely amazing. i made them last night for a party with some friends families, they were a huge hit and truly taste amazing. thank you to you and your mom for sharing. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  26. Here it is 2012, last part of April and I made these sauces to go to my grandson in Arizona. They are so good and he loves Caramel anything. Mayaluna, you came along just in time for my hunt. I lost my favorite recipes several years ago and these are far better than the ones I had. Bless you little pea pickin heart.

    I am a Great Grany of 7 and that is what I will call myself.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I tried something a little out of the ordinary with the recipe for the butterscotch topping. I love the caramels that Sees sells around Christmas and even though it is hot where I live, I wanted them now. So, I cooked the syrup until it formed a firm ball temp (around 230 degrees).
    Instead of putting the hot liquid in a jar, I poured it into a buttered 9X9 square cake pan, let it cool for a few minutes, then scored the whole thing into serving sizes. Waited until it was completely cooled, used the recipe for the Fudge topping of Mara's, added a couple of pieces of Mediterrainian Sea Salt on top of the chocolate. Walla, it is so good!
    I even sent some of it to my Grandson in Arizona and he has called me several times telling me how wonderful it is.
    Thanks again for the joy of sharing Maya.

    ReplyDelete