Chocolate Sauce

Homemade chocolate sauce has a lovely silkiness, and we offer three variations in addition to this basic recipe. It's wonderful drizzled over low-fat vanilla ice cream or angel food cake, or use it as a dipper with fresh fruit. Be sure to use a high-quality chocolate for the best results.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 tablespoon)

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup  2% reduced-fat milk
• 3  tablespoons  sugar
• 1  tablespoon  unsweetened cocoa
• Dash of salt
• 1/4  cup  60% cacao chocolate chips (such as Ghirardelli)
• 1/4  teaspoon  vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips; let stand 1 minute.

2. Cook over medium heat 1 minute or until sauce is smooth and slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat; stir in vanilla.

Orange-Chocolate Variation: Combine 2 (5 x 1–inch) strips orange rind, milk, sugar, and salt; bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove pan from heat; cover and let stand 10 minutes. Strain milk mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. Discard solids. Return milk mixture to pan. Add cocoa; proceed with recipe from step 1.

Mint-Chocolate Variation: Combine 8 sliced mint leaves, milk, sugar, and salt; bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove pan from heat; cover and let stand 10 minutes. Strain milk mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. Discard solids. Add cocoa; proceed with recipe from step 1.

Mexican Chocolate Variation: Add 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon to milk mixture. Add 1 teaspoon instant espresso granules with chocolate chips.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

69 (34% from fat)

Fat:

2.6g (sat 1.4g,mono 0.1g,poly 0.0g)

Protein:

0.9g

Carbohydrate:

10.3g

Fiber:

0.1g

Cholesterol:

1mg

Iron:

0.1mg

Sodium:

26mg

Calcium:

19mg