Make Mormor’s homemade hot fudge sauce

#Middlebury

What’s in your refrigerator right now? Mine is in a bit of disarray with the basics – milk, eggs, yogurt, condiments, a few nondescript leftovers, half a watermelon and wilting arugula. Now, if you open Nancy Nyberg’s fridge door in Naperville, Ill., you eye her delectable homemade fudge sauce in neatly stacked jars in the back corner. Any day, month or year.

No wonder her four grandkids think she is the sweetest grandmother ever. Her signature “Heavenly Hot Fudge Sauce,” which she has been making for 20 years, is now affectionately renamed “Mormor’s Hot Fudge” (“mormor” is Swedish for “grandmother”).

Nancy Nyberg and her granddaughter Paige sell Nancy’s hot fudge sauce and donate the money to nonprofits. (Submitted photo)

Granddaughter Paige, 9, makes it with Nancy to sell annually at a country fair by their summer place in Bethany Beach, Mich. “She learns how to measure, pour and stir until the sauce is ‘just right,’” Nyberg said.

There’s a bit of finance that goes into the mix, too. “We shop together and figure out how much each jar should sell for to cover costs, with enough left over to give to a nonprofit project. We have fun learning and cooking together. It’s really more about the relationship-building with my granddaughter than the fudge sauce,” she said.

Here’s the recipe to make 1 quart of hot fudge sauce with steps to involve school-age kids.

Hot Fudge Sauce

4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate bar (in the baking section of your market)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 12-fluid-ounce can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Let kids break up chocolate and place in the top of a double boiler with the butter. Stir until melted together. Add salt.
2. Stir in sugar gradually, making sure it is completely blended before making another addition. Mixture will become very thick and dry.
3. Stir in evaporated milk, a little at a time. (Shake the can well before adding.) Continue to cook about 10 minutes to blend the flavors and dissolve the sugar.
4. An adult should remove from the heat and set on a trivet. Add vanilla and stir. Serve warm over ice cream.

TIP: To store in containers: Pour into a quart-size measuring cup with spout and pour into storage containers such as Mason jars. Keep refrigerated.

Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.”

(c) 2018 Donna Erickson
Distributed by King Features Synd.