If you unleash me in a vast football-field sized supermarket (the kind you find in prosperous suburbia) between the hours of 11PM and 2AM (post-dinner, post-wine), I will most likely gravitate towards some of my trashy supermarket obsessions. I probably won’t buy them. But I might pick up two boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (one in each hand) and shake them slightly, like cheap maracas. I might caress the 50 cent package of chicken “flavored” ramen – the sustenance of my college years – and walk on, slightly embarrassed. But I always save the truly egregious food fondling for a true love, Magic Shell.

I love Magic Shell. Probably always will. If you aren’t aware of Magic Shell (poor, poor you), it is basically a liquid chocolate syrup that is “squirted” over ice cream. Once the syrup hits the cold ice cream, it begins to harden creating a “magic shell”. If you, like me, lived for boardwalk soft-serve dipped in chocolate, then Magic Shell changed your life. This was why you went to the grocery store at odd hours after…well, after whatever you might have been doing.

So imagine my unbridled joy when I discovered various homemade versions of Homemade Magic Shell (no more sleepy-eyed bodega runs) popping up in books and blogs. My heart nearly lept out of my chest when I found various Magic Shell incarnations in Jenis Ice Cream Book, and a quick Google search turns up all sorts of Magic Shell inspired nirvana.

And here is the best news: IT IS EASY! Impossibly easy. You do not need to be a food scientist or a chemist to create such a masterpiece, you only need two ingredients: chocolate and coconut oil. Melt together over a double boiler and presto…you have magic shell. WTF! Bliss in five minutes.

There are a million different ratios and million different variations on this recipe (i.e. more coconut oil equals a slightly harder/chewier chocolate shell, milk vs dark vs white chocolate, etc…) but let’s start with the basics. In a future post, I will show you all sorts of ways to play with this recipe (i.e. essential oils, nuts, flakes, sprinkles, etc…).

Jeni recommends a ratio of 12 ounces dark chocolate (60% or greater) to 1/3 cup coconut oil. Simmer together over a double-boiler and voilà…Magic Shell for the masses. This is a great and it makes a lot (you can refrigerate leftovers and reheat gently), but you can get to bliss faster and sloppier and it is still good. Toss a handful of great quality dark chocolate in a measuring cup. Heat the chocolate gently in the microwave (50% power in 30 second burst until melted). Stir in a Tablespoon of coconut oil. Make sure the mixture is not too hot…almost room temperature…and you are ready to pour over your ice cream.

True, my way is only 2 to 3 minutes faster, but when you are looking for bliss it is better to find it in 5 minutes. And honestly, there is something satisfying about not weighing or measuring (for once) ingredients for a recipe…it is…um…magical.