Maple vanilla chocolate sauce

Ingredients

170 ml	Cream
2 Tbsp	Maple syrup (Main)
½ tsp	Vanilla extract (Main)
40 g	Butter, cut into cubes (it can be salted or not depending on what you're using it for)
150 g	Dark chocolate, roughly chopped (Main)

Directions

1. Place cream, maple syrup and vanilla extract in a small heavy-bottomed pan and slowly bring to a simmer, stirring the whole time. Turn the heat to the lowest temperature and add butter and dark chocolate. Turn the heat off then stir until emulsified.
2. You can add a shot of booze if you like, bourbon and rum go quite well with maple syrup and vanilla. Chopped roasted nuts are also really good added here, pecans seem the most obvious as they always work well with maple syrup, but hazelnuts or salted almonds would be great. Imagine a salted almond version poured over a steamed self-saucing orange pudding with a generous dollop of creme fraiche on the side!

Any leftover sauce can be made into chocolate truffles. Simply spread the mixture onto a tray no more than 5mm thick and freeze. Scoop it up with a teaspoon and roll into marble-sized balls and refreeze on a parchment-lined tray. Then place on a fork, one at a time, and dip in melted chocolate, making sure the mixture is covered. Set on the tray, in the fridge, and store in an airtight container in the fridge. Bring out 30 minutes before serving to soften a little. You can also use the sauce as a filling for chocolate truffle cases.