Let’s talk sauce. As I’m sure you know, not all sauces are created equal. Most commercial sauces have a list of ingredients longer than your arm, a handful of which you can’t pronounce. We make our Hot Fudge Sauce with just seven ingredients and our Caramel Sauce with a mere six. No crazy colorings, preservatives, or other questionable additives; just pure, wholesome goodness. And like our base, each ingredient has been carefully selected based on taste, sourcing, and the principles of those we source from.
The cocoa powder and dark chocolate that we use in our Hot Fudge Sauce, for instance, hail from a shop in beautiful Berkeley, CA. TCHO Chocolate ethically sources their cacao (raw beans used for chocolate making) using Fair Trade practices to form a direct, symbiotic relationship with the growers who span across the globe from Peru to Ghana to Ecuador. Much like our own methods, TCHO uses the science of cooking to fuel their processes. Prior to our opening, TCHO handily defeated its competitors in a blind taste test to determine our chocolate supplier. You could say it was love at first taste.
Paramount to our existence at Love’s Ice Cream is, you guessed it, dairy. Of course we couldn’t put anything but the best into our namesake product. Kalona Super Natural, as it says in the name, resides in a small Iowa town just a six-hour car ride from Grand Rapids. Much like TCHO, Kalona is committed to maintaining lasting relationships with their farmers. And their tagline “Beyond Organic” falls right in line with our principles at the shop like producing non-homogenized dairy from grass fed cows. Cream, specifically, creates the smooth, rich texture you know and love in both our Caramel and Hot Fudge Sauces. While sugar is undoubtedly the star of our Caramel Sauce, cream is a key player in the cooking process. After the thermal decomposition has occurred transforming the cane sugar into a rich, amber-colored caramel, cream is poured in to stop the caramel from cooking—a process known as seizing. On the other hand, cream is added initially to Hot Fudge Sauce alongside cocoa powder, tapioca syrup, and brown sugar giving the mixture enough liquid to melt without caramelizing and burning the cocoa. Once these ingredients have liquefied, a healthy helping of TCHO dark couverture chocolate is whisked into the mix. Couverture simply refers to chocolate containing a higher percentage of cocoa butter than your typical baking or eating varieties, giving it superior coating and melting abilities. Stick after stick of butter is added at the end of both sauce processes providing not only a glossy appearance but also a balanced richness. And for the final touch, we add a hint of vanilla to tie all the flavors together.
There you have it. With all our products, we never compromise on ingredients—sauces are no exception. And while the process itself may seem simple, each step requires consistency and craftsmanship. So the next time you order a scoop of our handcrafted ice cream or gelato, sauce it up with either our sinfully dark Hot Fudge or salty-sweet Caramel Sauce. And if you’re feeling extra saucy, double up the decadence with both (we won’t judge)!
Stay sweet,
Love’s Production Crew
