5 Ingredients or Fewer

Totally Homemade, Ridiculously Easy Hot Fudge Sundae

by:
June 11, 2018
4.4
9 Ratings
Totally Homemade, Ridiculously Easy Hot Fudge Sundae
Photo by Rocky Luten
  • Prep time 6 hours 15 minutes
  • Cook time 10 minutes
  • Makes about 6 cups ice cream, 2 cups hot fudge, 2 cups whipped cream
Author Notes

At its most basic, a hot fudge sundae has three components: ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream. This version makes those three components—like, from scratch—from three ingredients. Add a cherry on top if you pretty, pretty please. —Emma Laperruque

Test Kitchen Notes

This is one of our Big Little Recipes. Read more here: A 3-Ingredient Hot Fudge Sundae That's 100% Homemade. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Watch This Recipe
Totally Homemade, Ridiculously Easy Hot Fudge Sundae
Ingredients
  • For the ice cream
  • 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 cups very cold heavy cream
  • For the hot fudge and whipped cream
  • 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 1 cup very cold heavy cream
Directions
  1. Make the ice cream. Add the sweetened condensed milk and salt to a large bowl. In another bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. (You could also do this in a standing mixer.) Add a blob of whipped cream to the sweetened condensed milk and stir to loosen it up. Add some more whipped cream and gently fold to incorporate. Keep doing this until you’ve added all the whipped cream—erring on the side of under- versus over-mixing, which would lead to dense ice cream. Pour into a loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap, and stick in the freezer. Freeze for at least 6 hours or up to several weeks.
  2. When it’s sundae time (yay!), make the hot fudge. Combine the sweetened condensed milk, water, and salt in a small saucepan. Set over low heat. Add the chocolate and stir to incorporate. Continue to cook, stirring slowly but constantly, until the chocolate has completely melted and the mixture is shiny and homogenous. (Psst: You can do this in advance. Store in the fridge. It’ll solidify—just gently rewarm, maybe with a small splash of water to help loosen up.)
  3. Make the whipped cream: Whisk in a bowl until soft peaks form. (Or use a standing mixer.)
  4. Assemble the sundaes in this order: scoop of ice cream, big pour of hot fudge, dollop of whipped cream. (Plus a cherry on top, if you please!)
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Emma Laperruque
Emma was the food editor at Food52. She created the award-winning column, Big Little Recipes, and turned it into a cookbook in 2021. These days, she's a senior editor at Bon Appétit, leading digital cooking coverage. Say hello on Instagram at @emmalaperruque.

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1 Review

Gretchen F.
Gretchen F. February 15, 2023
This was a fun one to make for Valentine’s Day. I had frozen the ice cream in individual cups, to speed the freezing process and eliminate having to portion it out with company present. As it happened, there was a big storm and a power outage just as we finished dinner, so we made whipped cream in a shaker bottle, and warmed the (previously-made) fudge sauce on the barbecue! The entire sundae was delicious! We also added banana slices on top of the hot fudge. And yes, topped it all off with a cherry. Everyone loved the ice cream; I’ll definitely make this again.