Ajvar
Ajvar is a cooked Balkan pepper preserve built around roasted red peppers, peeled, drained, ground and slowly fried with oil and seasoning. Leskovac’s protected version is a pepper specialty; regional versions vary.
Chocolate sauce
Chocolate syrup · Pourable cocoa sauce · Water-based chocolate sauce · Homemade chocolate syrup
A pourable dessert sauce of cocoa powder, sugar and water, boiled briefly and finished with salt and vanilla. It is a water-based sauce, not the cream or milk emulsion of ganache.
What this sauce is
Chocolate sauce in this sense is a pourable syrup made from cocoa powder dissolved in water and sweetened with sugar. It is cooked briefly, and it sets to a thick pour as it cools rather than being made into a cream emulsion.
The source calls its result a chocolate syrup and says it is a little thinner than store-bought syrup. The name chocolate sauce covers both this version and the milk or cream based sauces that are closer to ganache, which are kept on their own record.
Sources for this section
Why the method works
The source whisks the cocoa and water together first because the mixture clumps at the start. The sugar goes in once the cocoa is dissolved, and the mixture is then boiled for three minutes. The salt and vanilla are added after removal from the heat, as the method directs.
The source says to let the sauce cool completely before it is refrigerated.
Sources for this section
Thickness and adjustment
The source gives several ways to thicken the sauce if it is too thin. A teaspoon of cornstarch or arrowroot can be whisked in while the sauce is hot. Blending it for a minute after cooling also thickens it. Brown sugar in place of white sugar, more cocoa, or a longer simmer to reduce the water each give a thicker result.
The amount of water and the length of cooking are the controls the source names for thickness.
Sources for this section
Storage and handling
The source keeps its sauce in the refrigerator for about four weeks, with no preservatives, and advises discarding it at the first sign of mould or any change in colour or smell. The author says she has never frozen it but expects it to freeze well because it has no milk in it. Neither claim has been tested beyond the source.
A sweet, cooked, water-based sauce is not a shelf-stable product on the strength of its sugar. The room temperature storage of this sauce is not recorded in the sources read.
Sources for this section
History
The source is a home-cook recipe. No dated history of cocoa-and-water chocolate syrup was read for this record.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Unsweetened cocoa powderWhisk with the water until no lumps remain.
118 mL½ cup as recorded
237 mL1 cup as recorded
White sugarThe source gives 1 to 2 cups; add it once the cocoa is dissolved. More sugar makes a thicker sauce.
237 mL1 cup as recorded
1 to 2 cups in the sourceSaltAdd off the heat.
0.6 mL⅛ tsp as recorded
1/8 teaspoonVanilla extract (optional)Add off the heat.
1.2 mL¼ tsp as recorded
OptionalMethod
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Hot sugar syrup
A rolling boil of sugar syrup spatters and bubbles up a lot; the source says a large pan is needed.
Hazard sourceUse a large saucepan and whisk throughout the boil
Control sourceThe source gives about 4 weeks in the refrigerator for its own recipe, with no preservatives. No room-temperature storage is recorded.
- Put the cocoa powder and water in a medium to large saucepan and whisk until no lumps remain. The mixture clumps at first.
- Heat over high heat, whisking, until the cocoa is completely dissolved.
- Add the sugar and keep whisking.
- Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 3 minutes, whisking throughout. The sauce bubbles up a lot, so the pan must be large.
- Remove from the heat, then whisk in the salt and the vanilla.
- Let the sauce cool completely, then refrigerate it in a closed container.
Conditions
Active time15 min
Places
Unknown
Relationship not established · Place not establishedThe home recipe gives no origin and the record does not place it.
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Sources
Koti Beth (home cooking blog)Method · Safety · Storage
Homemade chocolate syrup recipe (no HFCS)Ingredients: 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 cup water, 1 to 2 cups white sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla (optional).
Whisk cocoa and water until no lumps, heat high until dissolved, add sugar, rolling boil for 3 minutes, remove from heat and add salt and vanilla, cool completely, refrigerate.
Keeps about 4 weeks in the refrigerator; no preservatives; discard on mould or change in colour or smell.
Thicken with 1 teaspoon cornstarch or arrowroot while hot, blending after cooling, brown sugar, more cocoa, or simmering to reduce.
Cited in: What this sauce is; Why the method works; Thickness and adjustment; Storage and handling