Easy Hot Chocolate Sauce
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An incredibly easy and heavenly Hot Chocolate Sauce which requires only 5 simple ingredients and less than 5 minutes work. Take your ice cream game to another level with this absolute crowd pleaser.
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Our family are all ice cream fiends and lately I’ve been serving it with this utterly easy and fudgy Hot Chocolate Sauce. It takes moments to make and turns dessert time into something rather special. From now on your ice cream won’t feel fully dressed if it’s not covered in chocolate sauce.
Do you want to know the secret to the best Hot Chocolate Sauce?
I’m not going to bury the lede here, I’m putting all my cards on the table as you need to know pronto how you can up the ante of your chocolate sauce prowess.
All it takes is one special ingredient…
Coconut Oil
You may think you can use butter or olive oil but it just won’t have the same effect. Coconut oil has a lower melting temperature so when it hits the ice cream it immediately hardens and creates a magic shell over the surface of the ice cream.
However, we use double cream as well in this recipe so we get a double whammy. The chocolate sauce becomes a fudgy cracking shell over the ice cream. It’s truly wonderful.
Why You'll Love This Hot Chocolate Sauce Recipe
- It doesn’t even take 5 minutes. It’s a 3 minute job at best. Ideal if you’ve got the craving!
- When the hot sauce hits the cold ice cream alchemy happens. The sauce turns to chocolate fudge with a slight crackle.
- The dash of salt is essential for really bringing out the flavour of the chocolate.
- It’s an incredibly versatile recipe which can be made with whatever chocolate you have to hand and it can be flavoured a bazillion ways.
- Easy to make vegan.
Which Chocolate Is Best To Use
- 70% dark chocolate (which is what the recipe suggests) gives the sauce a lovely richness with just a hint of bitterness.
- 54% dark chocolate is also delicious. It makes the sauce a little sweeter and removes that bitter top note. Children might prefer this version.
- Milk chocolate. You can use milk chocolate but then omit the honey. This version is very sweet and a real indulgence!
- White chocolate. Yes! This is a very popular version with my children. Omit the honey and the salt which isn’t necessary here.
You could also use any flavoured chocolate, you just need to watch out for excess sweetness.
My favourite brand of chocolate for any baking or chocolate recipe is Callebaut 70% Dark Chocolate. The chocolate is excellent quality and comes in the perfect sized chocolate chip for excellent melting or in any recipe which required chocolate chips (cookies included).
All Ingredients Needed
Double cream. You can substitute for heavy cream.
Chocolate. See above for the best chocolate to use.
Coconut oil. Coconut oil has a lower melting temperature so when it hits the ice cream it immediately hardens. You can substitute for butter or olive oil but it will change the flavour slightly (both lovely) and more importantly it won't have quite the same cracking fudgy consistency (but again, still nice).
Honey. This adds a little sweetness. You can substitute for maple syrup.
Salt. Essential for the chocolate to accentuate the flavours.
How To Make Hot Chocolate Fudge Sauce
- Place all of the ingredients into a saucepan (cream first!) and heat on low, stirring continually until the cream is very warm, almost hot!
- Remove from the heat, stirring continuously, until all the ingredients have formed a thick smooth and glossy sauce.
- It’s ready to serve straightaway.
Expert Tips
The key is to keep the melting chocolate happy so it doesn’t seize:
- The cream is added first so the chocolate isn’t resting on the bottom of the saucepan.
- The heat should be set low.
- Stir the sauce continually.
- Remove the sauce from the heat before the chocolate has completely melted, keep stirring off the heat until the sauce is thick smooth and glossy.
What To Serve Hot Chocolate Sauce With
- Ice cream! Any flavour!
- Barbecued or Oven Baked Bananas. Bake your bananas for 10 minutes in a hot barbecue or oven, in their skins and wrapped in foil. When you unwrap the bananas serve with lashings of chocolate sauce.
- Also wonderful over cake. A plain vanilla pound cake or madeira cake is heavenly with a drizzle of chocolate sauce.
- Serve over a fruit salad.
- Take your Eton Mess over the top with a splash of chocolate sauce.
- Pie - Drizzle the sauce over a Key Lime Pie, Coconut Cream Pie, Banoffee Pie or vanilla cheesecake.
FAQs
It’s actually quicker not to as when it is refrigerated it sets into a block. To re-melt it and warm takes longer than cooking it from scratch.
It can keep for up to 1 week in the fridge.
It hardens in the fridge so to warm it up again I recommend chopping it into cubes and then leaving it to come to room temperature. Place in a saucepan and heat very low and very slow until melted and warm. In my experience if you heat from cold or heat too quickly then the chocolate can seize and the sauce splits.
Absolutely! Just use vegan chocolate, sub out the honey for maple syrup and use coconut milk instead of double cream. This version is just as delicious!
Variations
- Boozy Hot Chocolate Sauce – If you want to make this a strictly adult affair then 2 or 3 tablespoons of Baileys, brandy, almond liqueur or rum would be incredible!
- Mexican Hot Chocolate Sauce – ½ teaspoon chipotle powder (and a dash of tequila if you’re feeling cheeky!)
- Mint Hot Chocolate Sauce – now this is a favourite! Add ½ teaspoon peppermint extract and it will turn your vanilla ice cream into mint choc chip flavour.
- Hot Chocolate Orange Sauce – we’re on a roll now! Add ½ teaspoon orange extract or the zest of 1 large orange.
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Sauce – Omit the honey and add 3 tablespoons of dulce de leche. This is a showstopper!
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Easy Hot Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients
- 150 g double cream
- 150 g 70% dark chocolate
- 50 g coconut oil
- 3 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pour the cream into a small saucepan, followed by the rest of the ingredients.
- Heat over a low heat until the cream is just hot enough to the touch. The chocolate will have started to melt but still be in little lumps.
- Take off the heat and stir vigorously until all the chocolate has melted.
- Serve immediately over ice cream.
Notes
- Use the best quality chocolate you can. I use Callebaut 70% Chocolate which is delicious.
- The salt used here is kosher salt which isn't as harsh tasting as table salt. Use sea salt if you can't find it.
- The cream is added first so the chocolate isn’t resting on the bottom of the saucepan.
- The heat should be set low.
- Stir the sauce continually.
- Remove the sauce from the heat before the chocolate has completely melted, keep stirring off the heat until the sauce is thick smooth and glossy.
Ingredient measurements
- Please note when you see ‘grams’ listed as opposed to ‘millilitres,’ or any other term of measurement, that is not incorrect. I weigh all of my ingredients, including liquids, for accuracy.
Hi Georgina sounds amazing but just want to clarify if it’s definitely chocolate ‘CHIPS’ as I didn’t think they melted very well?? Can you use the 70% dark chocolate in a block such as Lindt Excellence 70-90%, Aldi Just Organic 70% Dark Chocolate or Coles Finest Belgian Dark Chocolate 70%?
Hi Robyn, I use the callebaut chips - which are especially produced for chocolate making. I see where the discrepancy may be though and yes you should use block chocolate then so I will change that on the recipe. Thank you for pointing it out.