Carrie Lee’s Chocolate Sauce
Although some in my family guard this recipe like the Crown Jewels, the truth is that my grandmother, Carrie Lee Mathers Schwartz, found it on the back of a bag of Baker’s semi-sweet chocolate chips likely sometime in the 1950s. Carrie Lee was a formidable woman from the Texas Panhandle who often was stern and controlling, but luckily happened to have an intense love of sweets. She made this every time we visited her in her adopted state of Colorado. And from an early age, I secretly thought of this chocolate sauce as my prize for enduring often painful, tense, mostly quiet, dare I say, utterly WASPy, family meals. It’s not fancy or refined, but it is most definitely the essence of sweet comfort food. So, while we are all “sheltering in place” and perhaps some of us are indulging in a little emotional eating (no judgment!), I thought that this "prize" of mine might be worth sharing. The only thing I have changed in the recipe is adding a pinch of salt which I believe just makes the sauce all the better.
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cups
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Ingredients
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch of sea salt
Ingredients
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Instructions
- Melt chocolate chips and butter together on low heat, stirring until fully melted and combined. Next slowly alternate adding the powdered sugar and the evaporated milk using a whisk to prevent any lumps. Once fully incorporated, bring to a boil very briefly and then turn the heat back to a simmer and let cook about ten minutes. Add vanilla and a pinch of salt.
- Serve warm over ice cream or cake, like my husband did over a piece of Ruby's homemade banana bread.
Share this Recipe
Ha! I think this is the long lost recipe that we had on occasion, in my family! I’ll try it to make sure. But seems like it, and the consistency looks the same! We could make it in Africa and Asia where fresh milk wasn’t readily available, but Bakers Choc somehow would make it to us in our packages from family in the US. Prized by my family too, but definitely missing the WASPy fam! I love the story of your grandmother, and mine was just mean without the WASPy ness!!
I love this! Your Wyoming cousin and my dear mother Jenny Mathers Heuck made this for us last night at our weekly Family Supper. She told my teenagers about you and about Great Aunt Carrie Lee and about the Texas Panhandle. Such a great way to share some comforting family stories. Thank you for sharing! ~ Sarah Jo