A perfect, dark chocolate sauce

I'm borrowing this recipe from Becky Krystal of The Washington Post. I swear, this is the perfect dark chocolate sauce. It's velvety, shiny, incredibly rich and best of all, it stays pourable when it's cold.

In her recipe, Krystal calls for Lyle's Golden Syrup but then goes onto list a bunch of substitutes. That's where I get off the Becky train --there is no substitute for Lyle's. Maybe it's my experience with English recipes or maybe it's just my own good taste, but there is no other substance that comes close to Lyle's.

Photo by Thais Do Rio on Unsplash

The secret to Lyle's it twofold. For starters it has a toffee-like flavor to it and for seconders, its an invert sugar. Invert sugar has a different molecular structure that comes from heating it and that changes how it behaves.

It doesn't harden when it's cooled and it bonds to fats better than other sweet liquids.

Lyle's is widely available in the US and you should look for it. You can also buy it on Amazon but they charge too much for it. But if you're desperate, needs must as they say in the UK.

OK here goes:

• 150 milliliters water
• 80 grams Lyle's Golden Syrup
• 25 grams Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 28 grams unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Pinch fine salt

1. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the water and golden syrup and stir until the syrup is dissolved. When the mixture comes to a boil, add the cocoa powder and whisk to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low, stirring constantly until the powder has mostly dissolved and turned aromatic, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat, add the unsweetened chocolate and let sit undisturbed until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Whisk the softened chocolate into the syrup, followed by the vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.
3. Scrape the syrup into the cup of your immersion blender (or a tall jar or container large enough to use the blender with) or the bowl of a mini food processor. Blend or process until completely smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the cup or bowl as needed. It may not seem necessary, but this step gets rid of cocoa clumps that can come across as gritty in the finished syrup.
4. Transfer the syrup to a container, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. It will thicken as it chills but will remain pourable. Give the syrup a quick stir with a spoon before serving, thinning with more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, as desired.

And there you have it. It's perfect with everything. Oh and the immersion blender at the end is to make sure that no lumps of undissolved cocoa make it into the finished sauce.