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This wonderful chocolate sauce for ice cream has rich chocolate flavor and the perfect consistency, and it couldn’t be easier to make. Don’t miss it.
Why we love this recipe
This easy, perfectly calibrated homemade chocolate sauce has been in my wheelhouse for a long, long time. I’d consider it to be among the foundational recipes that instantly makes you feel like you can host a dinner party. It’s:
- Rich, chocolatey, and sweet but definitely not cloying
- Pourable but nice and thick
- A great match for a wide variety of ice cream flavors
- Equally good warm or at room temperature
- Happy to hang out in the fridge for a week or two
I first published this recipe here back in 2017. I’ve since updated the post for clarity, but the recipe remains the same.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
- Heavy cream creates the base for this chocolate sauce. Choose the best-quality one you can. For taste, health, and environmental reasons, I always buy organic heavy cream.
- Use light corn syrup. Corn syrup gets a bad name, but this type isn’t any worse for you than sugar. Corn syrup is an invert sugar. Its chemical structure has a different shape from granulated sugar. In this sauce, it helps create the perfect texture.
- Good-quality bittersweet chocolate makes the sauce taste great. You can use chips, bars, or wafers.
How to make it
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a dreamy batch of homemade chocolate sauce. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- First you’ll stir together the cream and corn syrup in a small pot.
- Simmer for two minutes.
- Off the heat, add the chocolate, vanilla, and salt. Let it sit for two minutes.
- Stir well, until glossy and emulsified. Let cool before using.
Expert tips and FAQs
Yes, for sure. Chocolate sauce will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for two weeks. Reheat briefly in the microwave, stirring frequently.
More favorite sauces for ice cream
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Chocolate Sauce for Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream
- ½ cup (118 ml) light corn syrup
- 8 ounces (227 grams) bittersweet chocolate
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- In a small pot, warm the cream and corn syrup over medium heat until simmering.
- Simmer for two minutes, then remove from heat.
- Off the heat, add chocolate chips, vanilla, and salt.
- Let sit for two minutes.
- Stir gently but thoroughly to emulsify. I like to start stirring from the center and gradually work my way out to incorporate all the chocolate into the cream mixture.
- Let cool to just slightly warm, or all the way to room temperature, before using. Sauce thickens up nicely as it cools.
Notes
- Good-quality bittersweet chocolate makes the sauce taste great. You can use chips, bars, or wafers.
- Chocolate sauce will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for two weeks. Reheat briefly in the microwave, stirring frequently.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Not only is this sauce delicious, the recipe is very forgiving. I didn’t have heavy cream so used light cream and added butter for a substitute. I also added a few tablespoons of Kahlua. The sauce thickened nicely as it cooled but wasn’t quite as thick as I’d hoped, so I brought it back to a simmer and added more chocolate. The end result was a thick, fudgy, rich chocolate sauce that got a bit chewy when poured over ice cream, and was perfect drizzled over cheesecake and peanut butter pie. It froze well.
Thanks, Sadie. That’s great to know.