Snowtober and a Chocolate Syrup Recipe (corn syrup free!)

It is being called "Snowtober" by the local news.  A wild early winter storm that left it's mark here in New England.  We were without power for 100 hours and there are many around us who are still waiting for the power to come back on.  This is just a glimpse of some of the damage in our yard.

We are still working on cleaning up the mess.  We were very fortunate that the property damage was minimal, the worse part was losing all the food in our freezers and refrigerator, it will take a while for us to be able to restock and the budget to recover (it wasn't covered by our insurance, in fact we are now looking into a new insurance company after the run around that we are getting).

All the snow (almost a foot!) put us in the mood for some hot chocolate.  While I love the powdered mix (a recipe I will be sharing soon), my favorite hot chocolate is made with milk and chocolate syrup.  One of the things I dislike about store bought chocolate syrup is they are mostly made with corn syrup, something we try to avoid in our house.  Here is a quick and easy recipe with just a few ingredients!

2/3 C. cocoa powder
1 C. sugar
2/3 C. water
pinch salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Place cocoa powder, sugar, salt and water in med. saucepan. Whisk together to combine. Bring to a boil over med. heat,  boil for 3 minutes*, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Stir in vanilla.  Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

*if a thicker syrup is desired, boil for 5 minutes.

To make a thick fudge sauce, after 5 minutes of boiling, turn the heat to low.  Add 6 Tbsp. of butter or margarine and cook until thick, shiny and smooth.  Add 1-2 tsp. vanilla, to taste.


Tomorrow I will share one of my favorite recipes using the homemade chocolate syrup--think chocolate syrup, cherries and whipped cream!!!