Ice cream sauce fans, get ready to wow your family, your guests, and even yourself with the best hot fudge sauce ever. Seriously.
This deeply flavorful hot fudge sauce is the same sauce I made in huge quantities at both fine dining restaurants I worked in. It’s the kind of sauce that solidifies into chewy goodness in the fridge and melts to pourable perfection when warmed.
Hands down my favorite and (subjectively) the best hot fudge sauce recipe for pretty much any of my ice cream recipes! For ease of browsing, here are all of my dessert sauces. Thanks for stopping by!
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The Best Hot Fudge Sauce, At a Glance
✔️Skill Level: Beginner
✔️Skills: Stirring, Simmering
✔️Type: Dessert Sauce
✔️Number of Ingredients: 11
✔️Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
✔️Cook Time: 25 minutes
✔️Yield: 32-36 cookies
Related Recipes: Quick Hot Fudge Sauce, Chocolate Syrup, Chocolate Ganache
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This is a superb hot fudge sauce recipe! I have made it twice now. I found I did not need to strain the sauce as it is pretty smooth as is. It is a very easy recipe to follow with big flavour!
Reader C. Teshima
Is This Really the Best Hot Fudge?
This ice cream sauce is not the best because it has the fewest ingredients. No, that prize goes to good old ganache which makes a fine ice cream topping, clocking in at 2 or maybe 3 ingredients.
If you’re looking for good, old-fashioned hot fudge sauce, though, you need look no further.
Here are the things that make this fudge sauce the best:
- It gets thick and a bit chewy when cold.
- You have to heat up in order to pour it.
- It has a deep, rich flavor that is exactly what is needed to set off a perfect vanilla ice cream. Or coffee ice cream.
- There is enough salt in it to round out the flavors, counteract any bitterness that might be present if you use a really dark chocolate, and to make the sauce sparkle on your tongue.
- You can vary the flavor based on your preferences.
It is truly an old-fashioned fudge sauce with you’re going to want to make again and again.
When you do make this recipe, it will help me and other readers if you:
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Thank you! ❤️
Divine!!! Is the word that best describes this Hot fudge sauce.
Laura Schrock from Food In The Myakka Kitchen
I was looking for a recipe for one this morning and stumbled upon this on on my Pinterest account and my word I will not be looking for another any time soon.
If you’re already confident in making fudge sauce, please feel free to head straight to the recipe.
Ingredients and Substitutions
NOTE: If you don’t need all the step-by-step instructions, feel free to jump straight to the recipe.
The ingredient list is actually relatively long, but the process is pretty straightforward. Here’s what you’ll need:
- butter: the fat helps to carry the flavor and provide body. If you don’t have unsalted butter, use salted, but you may have to dial back amount of additional salt you use
- sugar: provides the sweetness and helps to give the sauce the traditional “chewy” texture of old time soda fountain hot fudge sauce. You can substitute light brown sugar, 1:1, if you would rather
- corn syrup: light or dark. Helps to prevent crystallization and provides more of the chewy texture we’re going for
- heavy cream: provides body and volume as well as additional milk fat. The dairy solids in the cream will brown as you cook the base, adding to flavor complexity
- salt: enhances the flavor and counteracts any bitterness from the cocoa powder
- milk: provides more volume without adding much additional fat. Also adds more dairy solids that will brown as they cook
- cocoa powder: provides the chocolate flavor. Use the best quality you can get, although honestly any will do. I make mine with Hershey’s (or Ghirardelli when I can find it) and it’s fantastic, either way. DO NOT use cacao powder which is not roasted or heated during processing. It is too delicate to provide the punch of chocolate flavor we are looking for
- water (or coffee): gives you something to make the cocoa powder paste with. If you use coffee, it will help to deepen the chocolate flavor just a touch
- light rum: adds enough alcohol to bring out alcohol-soluble flavors without being a prominent flavor itself. You can certainly sub in your favorite liquor or liqueur in this fudge sauce, depending on what flavor you’re going for. You can also leave the alcohol out entirely if alcohol is an issue for you. Coffee makes an excellent substitution here, and you will not be able to taste it in the final sauce
- vanilla: chocolate’s complement. Must have! You don’t have to use the top quality stuff, but adding vanilla helps to round out the flavors
- semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate: adds additional chocolate flavor plus some cocoa butter for body
How to Make Hot Fudge
There are two basic components to this sauce:
- dairy and sugar
- chocolate and flavorings
The goal is to boil the dairy to concentrate the flavors and reduce the liquid and then pour that over the chocolate and whisk to combine.
Here’s a closer look at that procedure.
You have 2 “mixtures” to deal with.
For the dairy portion, mix heavy cream, milk, sugar, corn syrup, and salt together in a medium saucepan.
Bring it to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture caramelizes but isn’t too thick.
The magic temperature, if you want to use your instant read thermometer is 224-225F. This is technically the thread stage, and if this was the only component of the sauce, it would stay runny in the fridge.
But since the other part of the sauce contains a lot of chocolate, it sets up very thick, almost like peanut butter.
And that’s what gives you that chew when the warmed up sauce hits cold ice cream. Magic!
All the rest of the ingredients go into a large bowl or pitcher that holds at least 1 quart/1 liter.
- Chocolate, cocoa powder, rum (if using), vanilla, and water go into the bowl.
- Once the dairy is beautifully caramelized, pour it over the chocolate.
- Whisk until smooth.
- For the smoothest texture, strain through a fine-mesh strainer. This is an optional step, but since it doesn’t take much time, I usually strain mine.
This sauce really is the best! The first time I made it exactly as written and it was so good it only lasted a couple days.
Reader Carolyn
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Jenni Says: If you are not averse to having alcohol but don’t happen to have any on hand, use vanilla extract in place of the rum. I’ve done that before, and it’s delicious! If you want to make your sauce alcohol-free, substitute coffee for the rum.
NOTE: Since this hot fudge is dairy-based, it is not recommended to can this.
If you want a non-dairy chocolate syrup that you CAN can, check out my chocolate syrup recipe.
Hot Fudge Sauce Q & A
Since you add the boiled mixture to the alcohol mixture off the heat, none of the alcohol boils away. And even if you do boil it, while most will boil off, not all will. If for any reason you cannot have alcohol, you can substitute 2 Tablespoons of very strong coffee.
If you follow my advice to cook to no more that 225F, you shouldn’t have any issues. The fudge sauce will get chewy but not hard on ice cream. If you overcook and it does get too hard on ice cream, reheat the batch with a bit more cream or milk to loosen it up a bit.
When you pour your fudge sauce on your ice cream and it seems too thin, all running off and into the bottom of your bowl, scrape the rest of the sauce back into a pan, bring it to a boil, and let it boil for a couple of minutes to thicken it up. If using a thermometer, bring the sauce to about 225F.
Do I have to caramelize the dairy mixture?
While it’s optional, Tangela shares this comment:
Thank you so much for this recipe–I made a batch and LOVE it!
Reader Tangela
I **think** that I undercooked the dairy mixture–I was afraid of scorching it–I will bravely let it go another few shades darker next time in order to get the “chewy” factor.
I also made bomb hot chocolate using it!
Caramelizing the sugar/dairy does a couple of things:
- It evaporates out some of the water, concentrating the flavor and allowing for a thicker sauce and that old-fashioned chewy texture that is so incredibly addictive.
- The caramelized sugar and milk solids lend a deep, complex base flavor that you would not get if you don’t take this step.
If you want to use your instant-read thermometer to check doneness rather than just going by color, shoot for 224F/107C.
Here’s another comment in support of taking the time to caramelize the dairy in your hot fudge sauce so it really will be the best:
Gave this a try. followed directions. no alcohol.
Pinner Julie
I was nervous about the boil wait. But– Do THIS PART!!!
I couldn’t believe how creamy, rich and chewy-thick . Heated up serving 30 seconds in microwave from fridge–PERFECTION!!!
I WILL ONLY MAKE this very recipe!!! Thank You!!!
Pro Tip
The hotter you cook your sauce, the thicker it will be upon cooling. I generally go with the color of the dairy rather than whipping out my instant-read. Take the dairy to a light beige color, and it will still be fairly liquid (although thick) upon cooling. Take it to medium beige, and your fudge sauce will be more solid once chilled.
For me, the magic temperature for cooking the dairy portion is 225F/107C.
Unless you plan on eating it straight from the jar with a spoon, always reheat the sauce before serving.
Other Delicious Dessert Sauces
As much as I will almost always reach for hot fudge sauce to top ice cream, there are times when you may want a different flavor.
Here are some more dessert sauce recipes on the site:
- Try rich butterscotch sauce
- Especially tasty in the fall, pumpkin caramel sauce is great as a dessert topping or stirred into your coffee
- In the springtime, when strawberries are ripe and perfect, try some strawberry syrup over vanilla or strawberry ice cream
- For a decadent take on a chocolate sauce, try my chocolate peanut butter sauce made with peanut butter porter
Questions?
If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.
Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.
If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.
A Note About Measurements
NOTE: Most of my recipes are written by weight and not volume, even the liquids. Even though I try to provide you with volume measurements as well, I encourage you to buy a kitchen scale for ease of measuring, accuracy, and consistency.
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
Do You Love This Hot Fudge? Please Rate and Leave a Review. Thank You!
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The Best Hot Fudge Sauce Recipe
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Ingredients
- 4 oz unsalted butter (1 stick or 112 grams)
- 8 oz granulated sugar (1 slightly generous cup or 224 grams)
- 11.75 oz by WEIGHT light or dark corn syrup, (1 cup or 329 grams)
- 16 oz heavy cream (1 pint, 2 cups or 448 grams)
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 5.3 oz whole milk (about 2/3 cup or 149 grams)
- .67 oz cocoa powder (1/4 cup or 19 grams)
- 1.3 oz water (2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon water or 36 grams)
- 1 oz light rum (2 Tablespoons or 28 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- 8 oz excellent quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped or good quality chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli 60%, 1 1/2 cups or 224 grams)
Instructions
- Place the butter, sugar, corn syrup, heavy cream, salt and milk in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat over medium heat until it comes to a boil.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the cocoa powder, water, rum and vanilla into a thin paste.
- Place the cocoa paste in a large bowl.
- Chop the chocolate into small pieces (or use excellent quality chocolate chips or paillettes) and add to the bowl.
- When the dairy comes to a boil, regulate the heat so it maintains a slow boil but doesn't boil up in the pan.
- Stir the dairy frequently and boil until it reaches a light caramel color, about 20-30 minutes (less time if you half the recipe). You don't necessarily want the mixture to be super thick, but you do want it a few shades darker than when you started. If you have an instant-read thermometer, the ideal temperature to shoot for is 224F.
- Once the dairy is a lovely shade of deep beige, pour it into the bowl with the chopped chocolate and cocoa paste. Allow it to sit for a minute or two and then whisk until smooth.
- Optional: Strain it just to make sure it is completely smooth.
- Store in jars in the fridge.
- If you used fresh dairy, the hot fudge sauce will keep for a good 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator. If your dairy was close to the expiration date, use the sauce up within 5-7 days.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
Fudge Sauce Variations
This sauce can be flavored in many ways. Here are some ideas to try:
- Add a bit of orange zest and/or cinnamon to the boil
- Switch out the rum for orange liqueur.
- Use your favorite alcohol–a liquor or liqueur.
- Add some peppermint extract.
- Whisk in powdered freeze-dried raspberries or other freeze-dried fruits.
- Add some heat in the form of chipotle pepper or smoked hot paprika
Storing
Keep sauce tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. It will probably be good for longer than that, but use your best judgment. You can freeze the sauce for longer storage. This sauce is not suitable for canning unless you are well-versed in canning dairy products.Nutrition
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Enjoy the best hot fudge sauce. Every single bite of it.
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Truly THE BEST IN THE WORLD. It really is! I made this yesterday. I followed the recipe exactly. I wanted to experience it in its intended form before I begin experimenting with flavors and sweetness levels. I had zero trouble, but I do have experience with baking and cooking.
I LOVE this! Thank you so much!
Hooray! I always get so excited when people confirm that this sauce is the best! I’m glad it worked out so beautifully as written. And now you have permission to play! I hope you’ll let me know how you decide to vary it! Enjoy, Janice!
I made this sauce today, followed directions closely but did substitute chocolate chips for most of the chocolate. Turned out absolutely amazing!! I used it to decorate cheesecakes and it held up beautifully. Taste is to die for- this will be my new go to chocolate sauce. Thank you so much!
Oh, I’m thrilled you liked it! So great, right?! Thanks for letting me know! I’ve made it with chocolate chips too. All good. Hard to beat this sauce for sure, and on top of cheesecake?! Yowza! Hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Can the sauce be waterbathed or pressure canned to make it shelf stable? Looks delicious!
FDA guidelines for food safety recommend against canning dairy-based sauces in a water bath. I am not sure about pressure canning. I know a couple of people have said they have canned it in a water bath, but since I’m not a canner, I don’t want to say it’s safe and then have something go awry. You can freeze it (it won’t completely solidify) for long-term storage, and it stays just fine in the fridge for a good 3 weeks or so. I hope that helps. Enjoy!
MINE SEEMS RUNNY. DOES IT THICKEN AS IT COOLS OFF? I MADE SURE TO BOIL IT UNTIL IT WAS A LIGHT TAN AS SHOWN ABOVE.
It does thicken as it cools. If you think it is still too thin once it cools, you can simmer it gently to reduce it further. I hope you enjoy it!
Hi, the recipe says 11.75 oz corn syrup but then says one cup. One cup is 8 fluid ounces. 11.75 ounces is about 1 and a third cups. I just want to clarify the measurement,
1 cup is 8 oz by volume, not by weight. By weight, 1 cup of corn syrup weighs 11.75 ounces, so feel free to either weigh it or use a 1 cup measure. Enjoy!
Can this recipe be doubled or tripled?
Oh, absolutely! We used to make enormous vats of it at the restaurant. You’re only limited by the size of your pots and bowls. lol Enjoy!
Hi Jennie.
I am Muslim I can’t have Rum.
Instead of Rum what I can use to make
Olfashion hot Fudge Sauce?
Hi, Sultan! You can absolutely leave the rum out and sub it with some coffee. It won’t be enough to make the sauce taste like mocha, but it will add a touch more depth. I think you’ll enjoy it that way! Take care. 🙂
This sounds fabulous but makes a lot. Is it possible to freeze in a few batches, then reheat?
Hey there! I’ve never tried to freeze it, but you can absolutely make a half batch. It also keeps well in the fridge for a good 3-4 weeks. Enjoy!
I haven’t tried it yet, but when I do I will freeze in large sprayed muffin tins, then put in ziplock bags and take out as needed. Only two in our household!
That’s a great idea! Let me know how well it freezes–with so much sugar in it, it may not freeze completely solid, but it should definitely extend keeping. Enjoy!
I have made toffee many many times. After I put the mixture on a pan, I put chocolate chips or chocolate bars on top, and spread when softened. The last several times I made it, about an hour or so ( maybe longer) the chocolate gets white starburst type stuff on top. It looks like the chocolate is old. What causes this? And what can I do so this doesn’t happen? Thanks, love your recipes!! Margie
Hey there, Margie. That white stuff is the cocoa butter separating out of the rest of the chocolate. It’s called bloom, and it doesn’t affect the taste at all. Just the appearance. My bet is if you want a bit longer and let the toffee cool some more before adding the chocolate to the top, you won’t have that problem. And I’m glad you love my recipes–makes me happy! Feel free to get in touch any time!
Is their anything besides rum and coffee we could use?
You can leave the coffee out if you prefer. Why do you want to leave out the rum? Is it because of the alcohol content? If so, just use a tablespoon of vanilla extract in place of the rum. Of course, there’s still alcohol in vanilla, so if you can tell me why you object, maybe I can better offer some substitutions.
I also provide a few variations on the recipe, so look those over and see if any of those ideas sound good to you. Let me know. Thanks!
What do I need to do to add peanut butter or hazelnut spread to this? Do i change any liquids in the recipe?
I’d like to – it sounds delicious.
Hey, Debbie! I like both your ideas a lot. Since Nutella is so sweet and the hazelnut aspect would be so diluted if you added a cup or so to the mix, say, I would consider using some hazelnut extract, hazelnut liqueur, and steeping toasted and coarsely ground hazelnuts in my dairy. So you’d be making basically chocolate-hazelnut sauce without using any Nutella at all. Since peanut butter is pretty assertive, I expect the flavor will come through just fine. I’d cook the dairy part to a lighter color (so there’s not too much water evaporation) and add 1/2 cup of peanut butter. You can always taste and adjust the amount, but that’s where I’d start. Hope that helps. Enjoy the sauce!
How long will this last? I am thinking it would be great Christmas gift so but need to know Spshelf life. Could you can this like jam?
Hey, Jackie! I have zero experience with canning, but I recently had a reader (Helen) can some and said it worked perfectly. She canned it in boiling water for 12 minutes.
Without canning it, I can say for sure it will last a good 3-4 weeks in the fridge. I hope that helps!
This is truly the best hot fudge- my family absolutely loved it and it canned with a water bath seamlessly. Thank you for sharing it!!!
Oh, I am so glad to hear this! And thank you for commenting on canning, too. I’m not a canner, so it’s good to know it is “cannable!”
Canning anything with dairy is not considered food safe and is NOT USDA RECOMMENDED!
I didn’t recommend it in the post. I was just going by a comment from someone who did since I know zero about canning. Thank you for confirming that.
How long did you process?
Hey there! I emailed Helen, and she said most of her research showed 10 minutes but that she did 12 minutes just to be safe. Hope that helps. Enjoy the hot fudge!
I’m so excited to try this recipe. I’ve made ganache many times but this is going to change the game that’s for sure. Ive pinned your recipe thank you so much
It definitely changed the hot fudge game for me, Teresa! Can’t wait to hear what you think–enjoy!
This is the fourth recipe I have tried for hot fudge sauce, trying to find the exact right one. This is it! Thank you so much for sharing it! I tried the quick, easy just a few ingredients ones first, because wouldn’t it be nice if they were wonderful? But they weren’t! This is absolute perfection! I made a half recipe, and had a 2 cup glass container. Too bad there was a bit left over after I filled the jar. Just had to lick the bowl! Yummmmm! Whatever will I do with the also rans?
This is my new favorite comment! I’m so glad you love the sauce. I am not allowed to make it very often. Maybe twice a year. Otherwise, oh the danger! The also rans can just go the way of the dodo.
Aww shucks! You’re too kind! I dreamed about this recipe last night, so I revisited my Pinterest pin of it, looked at all the links, and watched the video. I’m so glad I did! I was recently introduced to the accuracy of weight versus volume by a blogger who had a recipe for whole wheat cinnamon rolls. I had a scale, but it was a spring loaded, not battery powered, so not very trustworthy. Bought a battery powered one and love it. However, I was placing a bowl on it, pressing tare to zero it out, weighing an ingredient, putting that ingredient into another bowl, repeat. It had not occurred to me to simply zero it out after each ingredient and keep adding. Duh! Now I will be following you on Pinterest. BTW, from your shirt I assume you are from eastern NC. I’m interested because, although I now live in Idaho, I am originally from east TN, near Boone, NC. I love your blog and look forward to browsing through all your recipes. I wish I had studied chemistry in college, as I love your explanations of what each ingredient does. I love to cook, especially desserts, but there is always something new to learn! Thanks!
Oh, we were practically neighbors! And my husband did his graduate studies in Boone at App! I was born and raised in Charlotte and now live in Raleigh. Big move for you from TN to Idaho! Wow! So glad you enjoy the blog, Rebecca. I’m really active on Facebook and I do live cooking usually twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays. You can follow my public profile at https://www.facebook.com/jenni.field or my page at https://www.facebook.com/PastryChefOnline I look forward to having lots of conversations with you!