Schokoladensoße

Schokoladensoße is not a regional monument. It belongs to the German dessert table where the cook wants one good thing poured over something plain: Vanilleeis, Pfannkuchen, Milchreis, Grießpudding, or a birthday bowl for children who know exactly what they are waiting for. In the north you'll see it thinner over pudding and ice cream; in the south it can go thicker, spooned beside Dampfnudeln, steamed yeast dumplings, or Kaiserschmarrn. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders, even with chocolate.

The whole dish is decided by heat. Warm the cream until it is hot enough to melt the chocolate, then take it off the stove before the chocolate goes in. Boil chocolate and you tighten the cocoa solids, scorch the dairy, and get a dull, grainy sauce. Let the chopped chocolate sit in the hot cream for one minute, then stir from the middle until it turns dark and smooth. That is the work.

Butter goes in last because it gives gloss without making the sauce greasy, and the pinch of salt goes in last because chocolate tastes flat without it. Nicht aus dem Glas. A made sauce takes ten minutes, which is less time than apologising for the squeeze bottle.