Hot fudge can be delicious on more than just ice cream.
Rich, hot, gooey and delicious, hot fudge sauce is a favorite for desserts. Open a jar of ready-made sauce and warm it up to serve, or create your own from scratch. Unlike basic fudge which is a more-firm candy, hot fudge is a thick, creamy, chocolaty sauce used to enhance pastries and fruit. If you like chocolate, you can try it as a topping for a variety of items. Make up a batch and give out as gifts in pretty jars for the holidays -- add warming instructions and your favorite angel food cake recipe to top it off.
Pies and Cakes
Sponge cakes, angel food cake and devil's food cake get an extra dollop of decadence when you top them with hot fudge. Some people use fudge sauce to create a pudding to go between cake layers, or to fill pie shells. This makes for exceedingly rich, sweet desserts, so if you're counting calories, watch out. You can also put the topping on banana cream pies, peanut butter pies, butterscotch pies and cheesecakes.
Ice Cream
The old standard is 2 scoops of your favorite ice cream with the warm sauce drizzled over it. The traditional ice cream for hot fudge sauce is French vanilla, but it's also served with other flavors, including orange sorbet, mocha and chocolate. You can try it on whatever flavor you like best for a novel twist. Some types of hot fudge will harden when it meets the cold, but others will pool into the lower part of the bowl, cup or parfait glass to scoop up with the melting ice cream. Try it with sliced bananas and chopped nuts, too.
Fondue
Cut up some fresh fruits, such as bananas, oranges and strawberries. Dip them into a fondue pot filled with hot fudge and kept warm by a burner under the pot. Chilling the fruit first gives a nice contrast in flavor. Feel free to add chunks of angel food cake, madeleines or vanilla wafers, or try finger-size baked goods. Some people use variations of the hot fudge sauce to dip such items, especially strawberries, then refrigerate them until the chocolate has hardened.
Other Pastries
Fresh cream puffs and brownies get a sugar lift when you smother them in hot fudge. Layer ice cream or whipping cream between the pastries for a nice start. Custard filled eclairs, shortbread and many types of cookies gain from a dowsing in hot fudge sauce. Mix and match to experiment for flavors and texture. Make a giant peanut butter cookie and drizzle it with hot fudge sauce right after you pull it out of the oven. The only limits will be what your waist line dictates, so determine the balance between it and your sweet tooth before overdoing it.
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