If it isn’t one of the three days of the year when coconut oil is liquid at room temperature in Dunedin, I melt this in a heatproof bowl over simmering water.

The big question about this recipe: is it magical? I believe it may be. It’s ready in two shakes of a lamb’s tail. It’s vegan, free of processed sugar and dairy, and tastes absolutely divine. It has a multitude of uses – if you have strawberries in need of coating, it will do just that; it can be drizzled over bananas and ice cream to make a banana split; it serves as icing or filling for cookies/biscuits (as in the thumbprint cookies recipe); and I sometimes inexplicably find myself just eating it by the spoonful at the end of the day. It’s also really great if you remove the stone from a fresh medjool date, fill the gap with a pecan nut, then dip the whole thing in this sauce. (But for Pete’s sake do NOT forget to remove the date pit – your dentist can add a few more days to his/her next Mediterranean cruise if you neglect this step.)

It also makes a fabulous chocolate fondue, and I know for a fact (as a four-year-old told me) that I am a very strong contender for Aunty of the Month if I make this when my nieces come around. I hope you enjoy it as much as they do!