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Dessert

Fat-free Hot Fudge Sauce

A chocolate sauce made with sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, evaporated skim milk, and vanilla.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cocoa and vanilla work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 357 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Fat-free Hot Fudge Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce

  1. In a small saucepan stir together the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and evaporated skim milk.

  2. Cook and stir constantly until sauce is bubbly and thick.

  3. Cook and stir two minutes more.

  4. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tsp vanilla.

Sugar-free option

  1. For sugar-free sauce skip sugar at the start and stir in nutrasweet spoon at the end with the vanilla.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

820Calories
22 gProtein
18 gFat
137 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cocoa + vanillatop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together357 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  2. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Cocoa + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together643 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  5. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Adds sweetness and body to the sauce.
Cocoa
Provides the chocolate flavor and deep color.
Cornstarch
Thickens the sauce as it heats and bubbles.
Evaporated skim milk
Supplies the liquid that forms the creamy sauce base.

The step that matters

Cook and stir constantly until bubbly and thick. Cornstarch thickens only when it heats to a boil and its starch granules swell. Stirring prevents scorching on the pan bottom and lumps, and keeps the heat even so the sauce thickens smoothly.

Swap the cocoa

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, vanilla):

  1. Chestnutfits about as well
  2. Cocoathe original
  3. Almondfits about as well
  4. Hazelnutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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