Old-School Soda Fountain Hot Fudge Sauce

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A proper hot fudge — not thin chocolate syrup. Dutch-process cocoa is bloomed in hot cream and brown sugar, boiled just long enough to thicken, then finished off the heat with bittersweet chocolate and butter so it stays glossy. Poured warm over cold ice cream it firms into that faintly chewy ribbon that soda fountains built their reputation on. Makes about 2 cups and keeps for weeks in the fridge.

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

• 6 oz bittersweet chocolate (60–70%), finely chopped
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pinch flaky sea salt, for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Chop the chocolate finely and set it in a bowl with the butter, right next to the stove — it goes in fast at the end and needs to be ready.
2. Sift the cocoa powder into a 3-quart heavy saucepan (sifting matters; unsifted cocoa leaves lumps you can never whisk out). Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar and salt and whisk them together dry.
3. Pour in the heavy cream and corn syrup. Whisk over medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes until the cocoa and sugars are completely dissolved and the mixture is smooth and glossy with no grit on the bottom of the pan.
4. Raise the heat to medium and bring to a full boil, whisking often. Once it boils, adjust the heat so it holds a steady, active simmer — bubbles breaking across the whole surface — and cook 5 to 6 minutes, whisking every 30 seconds and scraping the corners of the pan. It should thicken noticeably and coat the whisk. If you have a thermometer, you're aiming for 218–220°F.
5. Pull the pan off the heat and let it sit undisturbed for 1 minute (adding chocolate to a boiling base can make it grainy). Add the chopped chocolate and butter all at once and let them melt for 1 minute without stirring.
6. Whisk from the center outward until the sauce is uniform, thick and mirror-shiny — about 1 minute. Whisk in the vanilla.
7. Let it cool for 5 minutes before serving; it should fall from a spoon in a slow, heavy ribbon. Pour warm over cold ice cream, scatter a few flakes of sea salt, and eat before it fully sets.
8. Cool leftovers to room temperature, transfer to a jar, and refrigerate up to 3 weeks. It will be firm and scoopable when cold.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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