I love hot fudge sundaes but to date have been unimpressed by the store bought toppings available in the supermarket. Aside from being fairly expensive, most of these are not that tasty and heating them up tends to make them crusty.
This led me to do some research. I found a lot of hot fudge recipes, but they all had three things in common - lots of ingredients, way too much time to prepare whenever I was in the mood for ice cream, and large batches to store and reheat on the stove. Most recipes had 8 or more ingredients and required 10 minutes or more of cooking time. They might be worth the effort for a party, but certainly not for one sundae.
This led me to start experimenting since I always have many pounds of chocolate in the house. These experiments started with simply melting some chocolate coating and pouring it on the ice cream. It hardened instantly in a very thick layer and was difficult to eat. Various other things were tried, and eventually I came up with this method.
Note: This is not a true hot fudge, but somewhere between hot fudge and chocolate syrup. It is thicker and tastier than chocolate syrup and very fast and easy to make. It does not instantly harden on contact with the cold ice cream either, although it will harden over time.
PLEASE NOTE!! - Although chocolate making is relatively safe for the entire family to participate, adult supervision is required.
I prefer to use chocolate coating wafers designed for molding chocolate. My preferred brand is Merckens which works well with all chocolate molding projects, is available in a wide selection of colors, and tastes great.
Note: This works well with Merckens. I have not tried it with other brands of coatings or melted chocolate bars / bits.
I normally prefer to use a double boiler for chocolate making but for this I use a microwave. A double boiler may be used if you need to make a lot of this, but a microwave is sufficient for small quantities.
Double Boiler - See Double Boiler Usage Instructions.
A microwave may also be used but care must be taken not to overheat the chocolate.
Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.
Heat for 20 seconds.
Remove and stir.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the chocolate is creamy.
The following chocolate making supplies and other materials were used to make this project. Clicking on the item name will bring you to that item's page with a full description and ordering information.
Chocolate Coating - Dark chocolate was used here, but this also tastes good with milk chocolate.
Heavy Cream - From the supermarket.
I like a lot of topping so I use about 15 Merckens coating wafers per ice cream. I prefer this with dark chocolate, but this may be done with milk chocolate as well, or even white / colored chocolate for a vanilla fudge topping. Use a microwave safe bowl.
Melt the chocolate coating as per the microwave instructions above.
Stir in some heavy cream. The exact amount used is a matter of personal taste. I normally use approximately 50% cream and 50% chocolate. Using less cream will make it thicker and more cream will make it thinner. You can use a scale or measuring cup, but I normally add this by eye to reduce cleanup time.
Note: Using too little cream will cause the chocolate to harden on contact with the cold ice cream.
The cold cream will cool the chocolate when added. Once fully combined the mixture may be placed back in the microwave for a few seconds to make it hotter.
The exact time needed will vary with the amount you have made and the power of your microwave. Start in small increments (10 - 15 seconds) to avoid burning it.
Pour it on the ice cream. Add any other toppings desired and enjoy it.
Although it is not quite as good as real hot fudge, it is much faster and much easier to make and requires very little cleanup (one small bowl to wash). Total time to make is under 2 minutes so it can be made whenever desired. Plus you have nothing to clutter up your refrigerator and no pots to clean up from reheating.
You can help ensure the continued availability and production of free chocolate projects by telling your friends about them. The more popular they are the more we can produce so tell your friends, mention them on message boards, link to them from your web site, etc... More information is available here.
Disclaimer: The information presented here is accurate to the best of my knowledge and common chocolate making practices as of the time of this writing - originally published in June 2007 and updated in November 2010. The author and the publisher accept no liability for the use or misuse of any of the information presented in this article. This article is presented for informational purposes and is used at your own risk.
Publisher: Bobby's Craft Boutique Inc.
This article is provided free of charge for use. Products may be made and sold using this idea royalty free.
Web sites may use links to this page without restriction.
Reprinting to the web is prohibited without permission, however web sites wishing to link to this article may do so without permission.
All other requests need to be submitted via our reprint request form.
Copyright © 1997 - 2019 Bobby's Craft Boutique Inc.
