Chocolate Sauce Reheating

Our answer

Nigella's Meringue Gelato Cake (from Nigellissima and on the Nigella website) is served with a chocolate sauce made from double (heavy or whipping) cream and dark (bittersweet) chocolate. This combination is known as a ganache and is the mixture used for chocolate truffles so when chilled the mixture will become quite firm.

To reheat the sauce you can spoon it into a heatproof bowl set over (but not in) a saucepan of simmering water. Heat the sauce for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly, or until it has become liquid again. If you have a microwave then you can also reheat the sauce using 10-second bursts. Stir the sauce between each burst and stop heating as soon as the sauce is mostly liquid with a few small lumps left. Once the sauce is out of the microwave keep stirring for a minute or two and the lumps should melt in the residual heat. For small amounts of sauce you can stand the jug of sauce in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes and this should be enough to re-liquefy the mixture.