I always like an evening snack.   I blame my parents.  On the farm we had supper at 5 pm sharp, then back to the barn for the evening milking, feeding the calves, and putting everyone to bed.

By 8.30-9 pm we were all hungry again.  It’s a very hard habit to break, even all these years later.  The clock strikes 9 pm, and I’m thinking “what should I have tonight?”.  Many times we had ice cream.  In summer, when many of the cows were dry and we got done early, Daddy would say “Let’s go to Dairy Queen”!  Or sometimes it was make at home pizza (remember Chef Boyardee in the box?  Do they even still make that?), or popcorn.  In the summer maybe watermelon.

Ice cream was definitely it for me.  I think a hot fudge sundae is still one of my favorite foods.  And then I learned I could make ice cream toppings at home….with stuff I already have on hand!  So here are two favorites.  A chocolate fudge sauce, and honey -nut sauce.  Best if heated up a little and poured over ice cream so it just starts to melt.  Or even on cake….or anything else you desire to put a topping on!

Honey Nut Sauce or dessert topping

1 cup of honey – we prefer Sourwood honey which I order on line from Georgia, (at Mountain Honey ) but any honey you like the flavor of will do
1 tbsp cornstarch blended with 1 tbsp of cold water
¼ cup butter
2 tsp lemon juice (preferable freshly squeezed)
1/5 cup chopped nuts – walnuts, pecans, or almonds.

Heat the honey is a heavy sauce pan over medium low heat.

Add in the cornstarch mixture and stir.

Boil for 2-3 minutes.    A note here – do not spill on burners or anywhere else.  It appears to be liquid but becomes a sticky gooey mess.  That’s my personal experience.

Add in the butter & lemon juice– I cut up  the butter onto several pieces, and stir so it melts and is even distributed.

Put nuts into a jar (about 1 pint size),and pour the hot honey mix over. The nuts will float and can be stirred in as it cools (which is a really good reason to lick the spoon).

If you don’t like the nuts, leave them out.

Watch as it boils when you add the cornstarch – it will bubble up.

Stir in butter and juice…..then add the nuts.

oh, about 80 calories /tablespoon

Chocolate Fudge Sauce

1/2 c butter
3 or 3 squares (1 oz each) of unsweetened chocolate
2 cups of sugar – plain, or cane sugar
1 cup water (for a lighter chocolate syrup), milk, light cream or heavy cream (which makes it end up very decadent!)
1/2 light corn syrup
1/2 tsp espresso powder or instant coffee granules
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter and chocolate.

Add in the sugar, cream/milk/water, and corn syrup.   Bring to a boil, and boil for 2-3 minutes. Stir in vanilla and remove from heat.

For some variation, switch up the flavorings:  use hazelnut syrup, almond extract or peppermint extract in place of vanilla.

Like cherries?  add in maraschino cherries that have been chopped.

Nut sauce?  Stir in chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds.

roughly 85 calories /tablespoon.  It makes about a quart, so have a Ball Jar ready.

 

Final Notes:

I refrigerate both of the sauces.  To heat – take out the portion you are using and put in a microwave safe dish.  It will only take 30 seconds -1 minute to heat and liquefy a little.  The chocolate fudge sauce will become very thick once cold.  It becomes almost like a candy when spooned out of the jar, and is pretty good (so I have heard :-)) eaten right off the spoon.

What kind of sauces do you make at home?