Chocolate Egg Cream with Homemade Fountain Syrup

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

No egg, no cream — just three cold things in the right order. A from-scratch Dutch-process chocolate fountain syrup gets a splash of whole milk, then a hard blast of freshly opened seltzer that whips the whole glass into a foamy white cap over dark chocolate soda. This is the drink that built New York candy stores, and the homemade syrup tastes noticeably deeper and less cloying than the bottled stuff.

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 tbsp light corn syrup (keeps the syrup smooth)
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 5 tbsp chocolate fountain syrup, well chilled
• 1/2 cup very cold whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups ice-cold seltzer, from a freshly opened bottle

Instructions

1. Make the syrup: in a small saucepan, whisk the water and sugar together over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the sifted cocoa powder a little at a time so it does not clump, then add the corn syrup and salt.
2. Bring to a bare simmer and cook, whisking constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes, until the syrup darkens and thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon in a thin, glossy layer. Do not let it boil hard or it will scorch.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour into a jar and cool uncovered for 20 minutes, then refrigerate until thoroughly cold, at least 2 hours. It will thicken as it chills. Yields about 1 1/2 cups.
4. Chill two 12- to 16-ounce tall glasses in the freezer for 10 minutes. A cold glass is most of the trick — everything that touches the seltzer must be cold or the foam collapses.
5. Spoon 2 1/2 tablespoons of the cold syrup into the bottom of each frosted glass. Add 1/4 cup cold whole milk to each and stir briskly with a long spoon for about 10 seconds, just until the syrup and milk combine into a smooth dark chocolate base.
6. Open a fresh bottle of seltzer. Hold a long spoon upside down in the glass, tilted against the inner wall, and pour the seltzer forcefully onto the back of the spoon from a few inches up. The spray should churn the milk into a thick white foam that rises to the rim. Fill to about 3/4 inch below the top, then pause 15 seconds for the head to set and top it off.
7. Slide the spoon straight to the bottom and stir two or three short strokes down low only, leaving the white cap intact. Serve immediately with a straw and a long spoon — an egg cream waits for no one.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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