Our good friend Chuck passed away on January 6, 2024 and will be dearly missed. He was an excellent cook and gourmand with a wide repertoire of recipes including Indian, barbecue, homemade peanut butter and of course baked goods of all kinds. Here is his famous recipe for hot fudge sauce - - so famous that printed copies were handed out at his memorial celebration like little diplomas (see photo).  For years he owned a toy kite business in Washington, D.C. which explains his old auto license plate in the photo. Here is the recipe, in Chuck’s own words; you will never taste anything like it… (Slightly changed from Maida Heatter’s “World’s Best” recipe.) Yield: About 1 ⅛ cups; can be easily multiplied 3 tablespoons unsalted butter ½ cup whipping (heavy) cream ⅓ cup minus 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon white sugar ⅛ teaspoon salt ½ cup alkalinized (Dutch-process) cocoa, sifted Over medium heat, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the cream and bring to a low boil (careful…it foams up). Stir in the dark brown sugar, white sugar, and salt, until dissolved.  Turn off the heat and whisk (yes, use a real whisk, to get out the lumps) in the cocoa until smooth. Refrigerate any that isn’t used right away, and reheat in the microwave. Notes: 1 ) This recipe doubles easily. It also triples, quadruples… . If properly canned it will keep un-refrigerated for weeks, and I’ve shipped it to friends in Togo and Macedonia with great results. After a while, however, even if unspoiled, the flavor will deteriorate. 2 ) I’ve specified unsalted butter, not only because I think it tastes better but because that’s the way the recipe is calibrated. If you use salted butter, leave out the extra salt. (Note to the recipe-challenged: In modern recipes, if the instructions just say “butter” that means unsalted.) 3 ) I greatly prefer whipping cream that hasn’t been ultra pasteurized. Around here [Washington, D.C.] you can buy Lewes Dairy, Chrome Dairy, or other such cream, at places like Fresh Fields, Balducci's, Dean and DeLuca, some health food stores, etc. If you can’t find non- ultra pasteurized cream, Safeway is the worst, while most of the others are OK. If you want a sauce that gets harder when it hits the ice cream, you can cut the amount of cream in the recipe. 4 ) The sugar is the primary modification from the original recipe, which called for equal amounts of both. If you use light brown sugar instead of the dark that’s called for, you should probably use equal amounts of that and white sugar. (I also call for slightly more salt, because I think chocolate benefits from the intensification of flavor it brings.) 5 ) I’ve tested about 10 different brands of cocoa, and I usually use Droste, which has a smooth but deep flavor. It can be found at some supermarkets, as well as many other stores. I’m not crazy about Hershey’s for this recipe, but some other brands are quite good. 6 ) In the refrigerator this will keep for weeks.  The sugar may crystallize out slightly, but that won’t harm the taste. If you object to the crystals, heat the jar of fudge for a while, in a pan of hot water on the stove, stirring occasionally. 7 ) Pretzels and pecans are my favorite toppings! Thank-you, Chuck.