Author Notes
My husband bought me a soda siphon for Christmas and this was the first non-alchoholic beverage we've made with it! I had to made a chocolate soda, because I read in an old issue of Life magazine (March 14, 1938) that when Eddie Cantor took Deanna Durbin on a tour of New York, they stopped to have chocolate sodas. The soda recipe is adapted from "Fantastic Old Fashioned Ice Cream Soda" from food.com and the chocolate syrup is from Rick Rodgers's Kaffeehaus. - Ecossaise —Lauren Hairston
Test Kitchen Notes
When I first saw Ecossaise’s recipe, I was intrigued by the chocolate sauce, having never made one this way. While the sauce bubbled away to its target temperature, the smell of chocolate filled my kitchen. After stirring the sauce vigorously for one minute off the heat (as Ecossaise instructs), I immediately spooned the sauce into my glass, followed by the milk. The sauce wouldn’t dissolve into the cold milk, despite a lot of stirring. I remedied this by gently heating the milk and sauce together, a step that Ecossaise recommends if using leftover sauce from the fridge. Her recipe doesn’t specify whether to chill the now warm chocolate milk, but wanting an icy cold soda, I opted for a few ice cubes to cool it down, added two big scoops of vanilla ice cream, and topped it off with cold seltzer. Next time I’d be tempted to combine all of the sauce and milk upfront, then chill it to have chocolate milk on hand for a quick chocolate soda. And there will be a next time: The taste of Ecossaise’s sauce is far superior to squeeze bottle types, and her resulting chocolate soda is delicious and refreshing. - EmilyC —EmilyC
Ingredients
- Homemade Chocolate Sauce
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2/3 cup
bittersweet chocolate chips (best quality)
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1 cup
granulated sugar
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1/2 cup
water
- Chocolate Soda
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3 tablespoons
Homemade Chocolate Sauce
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1/4 cup
whole milk
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2/3 cup
vanilla ice cream
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chilled seltzer water
Directions
- Homemade Chocolate Sauce
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Place all ingredients in a 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stirring frequently, bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
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As soon as the mixture starts boiling, turn heat down to medium, add a candy thermometer and cook until temperature reads 234? Fahrenheit (no stirring!).
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Remove pan from the heat and stir vigorously for one minute. **If you'e making a chocolate soda right away, spoon three tablespoons sauce into a pint-sized glass and stir in milk.** Immediately pour remaining chocolate into a heatproof container for storage. Don't scrape the pan, just use what pours out of its own accord. When it cools down, you can cover and refrigerate for several weeks. Leftovers are great for making hot chocolate!
- Chocolate Soda
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If your chocolate has been stored in the refrigerator, heat the milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over lowest heat and add the now-hardened chocolate sauce. Heat just until chocolate has melted, stirring constantly. Pour into the bottom of a pint-sized glass.
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Add ice cream and top with chilled seltzer. Enjoy!
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