The Ingredient Swap To Transform Ganache Into Hot Fudge Sauce

Nothing beats the gooey texture of great hot fudge. Thick and shiny, the crave-able rich chocolate sauce is so easy to make that you can have a batch ready for a bowl of ice cream almost instantly. You might already be familiar with ganache, an easy-to-make mixture of melted chocolate and cream which is the basis for truffles and chocolate frostings, but when ganache hits your ice cream bowl it hardens instead of flows. Simply swap some of the cream for corn syrup and that ganache transforms into pourable, luscious hot fudge sauce.

Corn syrup has a few tricks that make it the right addition to glossy, flowing fudge sauce. The glucose molecules in the syrup prevent sugar crystals, which could make the sauce grainy and give it that attractive shine. The syrup also keeps the sauce from getting too hard in the refrigerator because of its water content. No high-fructose worries when you use corn syrup from the grocery, either. It's almost totally glucose. Glucose syrup is an important ingredient for pastry chefs around the world due to its star qualities.

The key to great hot fudge is starting with high-quality chocolate, it's the main flavor after all! With so many to choose from you can decide if you'd like milk chocolate sweetness or dark chocolate intensity – just be careful when working with white chocolate, which does not have the same melting qualities. Chop your chocolate for even melting, or use chips or discs. The other ingredients, milk or cream, corn syrup, and a pinch of salt get warmed up and then stirred into the waiting chocolate. You can add other flavors by steeping spices or fruits in the milk mixture and steeping it out. Stir well and try not to eat it all with a spoon right away!

You can use your hot fudge for a sundae of course, but it's also a great way to whip up a mocha or hot chocolate steamer quickly. The sauce will mix in easily to your warm and cold beverages, and can even be used to drizzle on the inside of your glass to decorate. Shake up a bit of fudge sauce in chocolate cocktails like mocha martinis and chocolate white Russians. Why not make a double batch so you'll have plenty on hand?