Homemade hot fudge sauce made with just a few simple ingredients is perfect over ice cream!
Whip up a batch of this quick sauce and then reheat whenever you're ready to add to a scoop of ice cream or a hot fudge sundae.
Every once in awhile we need to truly indulge ourselves. And what's more indulgent than a hot fudge sauce poured over a bowl of ice cream? This sauce is rich and turns thick as soon as it hits the ice cream giving it a perfect consistency.
This chocolate sauce takes about 10 minutes to make. But the very best part is after its made, you cover and store in the refrigerator.
When you're ready for a chocolate indulgence, you just pull out of the fridge and pop into the microwave oven for 30 seconds and you have hot fudge sauce!
Key ingredients
- Semisweet chocolate chips
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Heavy cream
- Corn syrup
- Butter
- Vanilla
To make hot fudge sauce
- Place cream, corn syrup, cocoa powder and water in a sauce pan.
- Whisk until smooth
- Add chocolate chips
- Turn on medium heat, stirring often until mixture begins to bowl and chocolate chips are melted- about 5 minutes.
- Turn heat to low and continue cooking, stirring often. Cook until mixture reaches 215°F - about another 5 minutes.
Recipe tips
- Stir often to avoid scorching
- It's hard to tell if your sauce is overcooked until it has cooled. Unfortunately if it has been cooked for too long the hot fudge will be very, very hard and too tough to eat.
- I may have made a batch or two that look beautiful until it was poured over ice cream. It became rock hard. The taste was still cook, but it was more like a fudge lollipop than a sauce!
Frequently asked questions
Hot fudge sauce will last for up to a month stored covered in the refrigerator. I like to store it in two small canning jars and pull out just one jar at a time
There are two main ways to reheat hot fudge sauce:
1. Place sauce in the microwave for 20-30 seconds until the hot fudge sauce is liquidy and hot.
2. Scoop out sauce and place in a pot. Heat over low heat until heated through.
To make without a thermometer
You can still easily make this sauce even without a thermometer.
- Once your sauce comes to a boil, turn heat to low. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Watch the bubbles while the sauce boils. Initially the bubbles will be small and almost foamy. As it nears 5 minutes, the bubbles will become bigger and the foam will disappear.
- Test your sauce with an ice cube. Place an ice cube in a bowl. Drizzle a small amount of sauce directly on the ice cube. Let sauce sit for a few seconds and test with your fingers. The sauce should have some consistency and hold together, but not be hard. If the sauce is still liquidy after it cools on the ice cube, keep cooking it.
Serving suggestions
Add hot fudge sauce to almost any favorite dessert! Some favorites include:
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
Check out all my delicious dessert recipes!
Hot Fudge Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup corn syrup
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
- 1 cup chocolate chips (semi sweet)
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Place corn syrup, cream, cocoa powder and water in a sauce pot. Whisk together until smooth.1 cup corn syrup, ¾ cup heavy cream, ¼ cup cocoa powder, ¼ cup water
- Add chocolate chips and place on medium heat.1 cup chocolate chips
- Heat until boiling, stirring often (approximately 5 minutes)
- Turn heat to low. Continue stirring for about 5 more minutes until mixture reaches 215 degrees.
- Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.3 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Use right away, or pour into a heat proof container and let cool. Once cool, cover and refrigerate.
- Each time you are ready to use, remove from refrigerator, remove cover and microwave for 30 seconds or until hot. Scoop out desired amount and place remaining hot fudge back in refrigerator.
Notes
- Once your sauce comes to a boil, turn heat to low. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Watch the bubbles while the sauce boils. Initially the bubbles will be small and almost foamy. As it nears 5 minutes, the bubbles will become bigger and the foam will disappear.
- Test your sauce with an ice cube. Place an ice cube in a bowl. Drizzle a small amount of sauce directly on the ice cube. Let sauce sit for a few seconds and test with your fingers. The sauce should have some consistency and hold together, but not be hard. If the sauce is still liquidy after it cools on the ice cube, keep cooking it.
Nutritional Disclaimer:
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Fred G says
Great taste. Much, much better than store stuff. The problem is that it goes so fast, since its so good,
Kathy says
Thanks! Luckily this is easy enough to make so you can make it again and again!
David @ Spiced says
Well talk about that for timing! Laura and I were just discussing the merits of ice cream topped with hot fudge sauce this past weekend. I've made lots of sauces before, but I don't think fudge sauce for ice cream has made the list...yet. It's time to fix that. After all, it's hotter than Hades here right now, and a good bowl of ice cream sounds amazing!
Kathy says
Yep - hot fudge is the perfect topping for ice cream and this is the perfect season for eating ice cream!
Suzi says
Looks amazing! Since we don't go out for ice cream right now, I think we'll have to make this for our at-home Sundae stash!
Kathy says
A perfect way to enjoy ice cream goodies at home!
Alex says
I definitely could eat this by itself - so delicious! A hot fudge sauce is one of life's greatest pleasures I think!
Kathy says
Oh Yes! It's the simple things 🙂
Mary Ann | The Beach House Kitchen says
Perfect for all the summer ice cream my husband Tom will be consuming Kathy! I think I'll need to make him some for Father's Day!
Kathy says
There's just something about summertime and ice cream! This would make a great gift for Father's Day!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food says
With ice-cream season in full swing this hot fudge sauce is perfect!! Though, I'd be pretty tempted to enjoy as is with a spoon 😉 Have a great weekend, Kathy!
Kathy says
Who said you needed ice cream? A spoon is totally fine 🙂