Bouffant Blonde Cooks: Ghirardelli chocolate

I found this recipe on the inside over of a bar of Ghirardelli chocolate. The perfect chocolate sauce from folks who really know how to do chocolate. It would be perfect over ice cream or chocolate fudge cake.

Ghirardelli Signature Hot Fudge Sauce

1 bar (4 oz.) Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar, broken into pieces
4 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup water
¼ cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a heavy saucepan, combine the chocolate, butter, sugar, water and light corn syrup. Stir the mixture continuously over medium heat until the completely melted and smooth. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and continue simmering for 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Store covered in the refrigerator.

To reheat, place in a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave on medium 6 to 8 minutes, stirring after the first 5 minutes.

Makes 2 cups.

Ghirardelli chocolate always takes me back to days in San Francisco and makes me smile. Thankfully we can purchase Ghirardelli chocolate in Alabama so I can use it with baking or I can even purchase the candy. The real stuff. Yeah. Good. No calories. I'm sure. It's just too good to have calories. LOL Okay. But worth it. Really!

Ghirardelli Marbled Cheesecake Bars

Crust:
1 cup flour
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

Batter:
24 oz. cream cheese, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
½ bar (2 oz.) Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar, melted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Crust:
Combine the flour, pecans, butter and brown sugar; mix well. Press the mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 8” or 9” square baking pan.

Bake 15 to 16 minutes, or until light golden brown.

Batter:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, granulated sugar and vanilla extract until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well.

Set 1 cup plain batter aside.

Combine melted chocolate into mixing bowl. Spoon the chocolate batter over the crust.

Pour 1 cup plain batter over chocolate batter. Using the blade of a butter knife, swirl the batter to create a marbled effect.

Bake 30 t0 35 minutes or until center is set.

Cool on rack to room temperature. Cover, and transfer the pan to the refrigerator to chill, approximately three hours. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Makes 16 bars.