Salted Tahini & Date Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce

aka your new favourite ice cream topping!

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Salted Tahini & Date Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce

First things first, last week I was lucky enough to be invited to speak on Betty Williams’ wonderful podcast Betty Eatz (my first ever podcast interview!) to talk a little bit about my journey into food writing and recipe development, my experience as a supperclub host, where I find inspiration for my recipes and how I twice (!) applied and failed to secure a stage in the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen. I also got to share the recipe for one of my favourite cakes - a Preserved Lemon Drizzle Loaf. Here is the link to the episode. 

But let’s talk about this week’s recipe for Salted Tahini and Date Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce. We are in the midst of a heatwave here in Brussels - or maybe it is simply the start of summer. Either way, it is HOT and I am craving all things cold and refreshing (lots of ideas here if you need any!). During the day that means plenty of iced coffee or matcha, lots of gazpacho (which must count as an electrolyte solution, no?) and copious amounts of crisp and juicy watermelon straight from the fridge. And once both the toddler and baby are down for the night, there is nothing better in this hot weather than to sit on the sofa with a big bowl of ice cream and watch some Netflix with my husband (we just started watching Department Q which is equal parts terrifying and intriguing). Except there is: a big bowl of ice cream with lots of fun toppings, especially chocolate hot fudge sauce. Because if there is one thing I learned from my mum early on, there is no bowl of ice cream that isn’t improved by some chocolate hot fudge sauce. And somehow homemade chocolate hot fudge sauce always tastes better than store bought. 

Photo by Amy Vann on Unsplash

This week I bring you my take on this brilliant ice cream topper in the form of this velvety, nutty Salted Tahini and Date Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce in the hopes that you, like me, already have all the ingredients you need for this in your pantries. And I am not going to pretend that a Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce made with dates is any healthier than one made with regular sugar (sugar is sugar after all), it IS a delicious way to use up any dates you might have leftover from other projects (or in my case, pregnancy). Plus, dates naturally have a toffee-like flavour which works brilliantly in chocolate hot fudge sauce. They also lend the hot fudge sauce this beautiful velvety texture which I love. And the tahini? While you could simply use butter or cream but I prefer the slightly nutty flavour of the tahini here. Plus it is always nice to find yet another way to use up that jar of tahini at the back of my fridge! 

My favourite Tahini brand. If it’s good enough for Ottolenghi, it is good enough for me!

I already know that in addition to pouring this Salted Tahini and Date Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce generously over ice cream, I will dip some fruit in it and swirl some into iced coffees for a mocha vibe. And no doubt much (most?) of it will simply disappear by repeatedly dipping a spoon straight into the jar for immediate consumption while leaning against the open door of the fridge to try and cool down a bit (living in a top floor apartment in Brussels, the city which hasn’t yet heard of properly insulated buildings, is somewhat challenging in these temperatures to say the least).

Is it also super hot where you are? If so, how are you cooling down? Let me know in the comments below. 

Salted Tahini & Date Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce 

Notes: This Salted Tahini and Date Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce could not be any easier to prepare. Aside from soaking and pureeing the dates, it is a one bowl - or rather one saucepan - affair. Note that the sauce will thicken considerably once it cools down / while stored in the fridge. To serve, a quick blast in the microwave (1-2 mins) or placing the jar in a bowl with boiling water will liquefy it once more. As always, adjust to your liking - e.g. add an extra spoon of tahini or another sprinkle of salt or even a shot of espresso. 

This makes 1 large jar (ca. 500ml capacity) of sauce - enough to feed a crowd, feel free to halve the ingredients

Ingredients

150g (8-10 depending on size) pitted medjool dates
100g dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa content), roughly chopped
2 tbsp cocoa powder (I prefer using Valrhona)
1 tsp salt (or more to taste)
100g tahini (or more to taste)
100ml milk

Directions

Soak the dates in boiling water (just enough to cover the dates) until very soft (5-10 minutes should do the trick unless your dates are quite dry). Puree the dates with their soaking water and add to a medium-sized sauce pan.

Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Whisk constantly until all the chocolate has melted, there are no more lumps and everything has turned into a glossy and thick sauce. Taste and add more tahini and/or salt if you prefer.

Set aside to cool down. Store in a jar in the fridge where it will keep for 1-2 weeks.