Grandma Desrosiers' Hot Fudge

My grandma's pretty awesome, just putting that out there. She cooks all sorts of yummy things every night, following an average of 40% of any one recipe. When she doesn't feel like cooking, she's not ashamed to put tuna fish sandwiches on the table and say "deal with it!" She doesn't bake as much, dessert usually consists of fresh fruit or somebody's birthday cake, or cookies that have been in the freezer for who knows how long (but they're still really good!) but the one thing she can make like none other is hot fudge.

We have this hot fudge every family holiday that there's peppermint ice cream. So, most Christmases when someone remembers to buy it, Easter if there's any left in the freezer, and thanksgiving if we can find any that early. But as long as there's peppermint ice cream, there had better be hot fudge with it!

I finally asked my grandma for this recipe a few years ago. I was putting together a bunch of recipes for my sister for a present, and this had to be in it. Ok, so mostly I just wanted it for myself. Anyway, after a little digging, she found an ancient cookbook without any pictures. It was the kind of cookbook that had recipes that called for a pound or so of fat. Not lard or butter or shortening, at least a couple recipes just told you to add massive amounts of fat. It made me laugh.

ANYWAY, The Dairy Godmother has peppermint custard twice a year, Christmas, and Christmas in July. It's a big deal, people come in and buy gallons and gallons of this stuff at a time, it's SO good! Last July, I got super excited and got a scoop with hot fudge, just to have a little Desrosiers Christmas in the middle of the year. I was disappointed by the hot fudge. It tasted so...normal. Like actual hot fudge. I mean, it was good and all, but it wasn't the grainy, sugary, rich, messy goop I'm used to.

So this year, I vowed to pick up a quart, and have Christmas in July my way! With Dairy Godmother custard and Grandma's hot fudge, just the way it's supposed to be!

Grandma Desrosiers' Hot Fudge

1/2 cup butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
3 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup evaporated milk (NOTE: this isn't a normal amount in a can. You'll need either one 12oz can and one 5oz can, or three 5oz cans. Either way, you'll have a little leftover)
1 tsp vanilla


Melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in sugar (about 1/4 at a time.) Add salt, return to heat and add milk. Cook 7 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add vanilla. Serve warm over ice cream.