Chocolate syrup, sometimes called chocolate sauce, is a sweet,
chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods.
Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...
-flavored
condiment
A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to enhance the Flavoring, flavour, to complement the dish or to impart a specific flavor. Such specific flavors generally add sweetness or pungency, or sharp or piquant ...
. It is often used as a topping or
dessert sauce for various
desserts, such as
ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...
, or mixed with
milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...
to make
chocolate milk or blended with milk and ice cream to make a chocolate
milkshake
A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, or fruit syrup into a thick, sweet, cold mixture. It may ...
. Chocolate sauce is sold in a variety of consistencies, ranging from a thin liquid that can be drizzled from a bottle to a thick sauce that needs to be spooned onto the dessert item.
Chocolate sauce is also used to top
puddings and cakes. Some restaurants use an artistic drizzling of chocolate sauce to decorate servings of cheesecake or cake, along with other decorations such as cocoa powder, powdered sugar or chocolate shavings. Some brands of chocolate sauce are marketed as chocolate milk sauce (e.g.,
Nesquik). Other brands are marketed as
ice cream sundae toppings.
Ingredients
A simple chocolate sauce can be made from unsweetened
cocoa powder, a sweetener such as
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose
Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
, and
water
Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...
. Recipes may also include other ingredients, such as
corn syrup
Corn syrup is a food syrup that is made from the starch of corn/maize and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften Mouthfeel, texture, add vol ...
,
malt
Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as "malting".
Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar, ...
, and
flavorings like
vanilla extract
Vanilla extract is a Solution (chemistry), solution made by maceration (food), macerating and percolation, percolating vanilla, vanilla pods in a solution of ethanol and water. It is considered an essential ingredient in many Western desserts, es ...
.
Industrial recipes may contain ingredients such as:
*
High fructose corn syrup
*
Corn syrup
Corn syrup is a food syrup that is made from the starch of corn/maize and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften Mouthfeel, texture, add vol ...
*
Water
Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...
*
Sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose
Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
*
Cocoa
*
Potassium sorbate (
preservative
A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food products, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or ...
)
*
Salt
In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
*
Mono and diglycerides (emusilfier)
*
Polysorbate 60
*
Xanthan gum
Xanthan gum () is a polysaccharide with many industrial uses, including as a common food additive. It is an effective thickening agent and stabilizer that prevents ingredients from separating. It can be produced from simple sugars by fermentat ...
*
Vanillin (artificial flavoring)
Other uses
Beginning in the 1890s, chocolate sauce was marketed as a treatment for ailments, including for infants suffering from
colic. In part due to the passage of the
1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, which required clear and accurate labeling, chocolate syrup began to transition from primarily medical application to commercial use.
Chocolate syrup was often used in
black-and-white movies to simulate blood, because it was safe for the performers to swallow, easy to get out of clothing, and cheap to buy. It also has an effective-looking
viscosity
Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent drag (physics), resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for e ...
on film. The effect was used in many movies, including ''
The Wasp Woman'' and ''
Psycho''.
Products
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Fox's U-bet chocolate syrup
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Bosco Chocolate Syrup
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Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
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Culver's Chocolate Syrup
*
Nestle Nesquik Chocolate Syrup
See also
*
Ganache, the melted chocolate and cream preparation
*
Hot fudge, a thick chocolate sauce
*
List of dessert sauces
*
List of syrups
References
{{Chocolate
Chocolate
Dessert sauces
Syrup
Toppings