Happy Hour Hot Fudge Milkshake

happy hour HOT FUDGE milkshake

My very first job was in an ice cream shop.  That means between the ages of fifteen and seventeen I smelled like a waffle cone and had between three and seven sprinkles scattered throughout my hair at any given moment.  Summers were long and hot, but if you made nice with the boys that worked in the pizza place next door you either had a make-out partner for the deep freezer, or someone to trade you obscene amounts of pizza for obscene amounts of ice cream.  I opted for the later exchange… mostly because I was awkward and didn’t really have a choice.

Everyday on my ice cream lunch break I would make myself a giant milkshake and head outside the ice cream shop to sit on a sunny stoop.  These were the days before cellphones (… I know, BONKERS), so I’d watch people mill about and think about what the future held for me.  I’d daydream about being a writer, or being a backup dancer for Mariah Carey, or devise ways to find Jared Leto and make him fall in love with me.

The milkshake was my super indulgent escape.

The backup dancing didn’t pan out, and I couldn’t find Jared Leto… but all’s well that ends well.

I sure do know how to plan an afternoon escape.  Nowadays we call it Happy Hour.

This Happy Hour Hot Fudge Milkshake is steeped in a rich tradition of indulgence.  What does that mean?  It means that I’ve paired my deep love of milkshake with my fondness of rich dark chocolate… I’m talking about the fancy stuff.  Throw in a shot of bourbon and this Happy Hour escape is just beyond.

Ah!  If I could only tell my fifteen year old self what I know now…

happy hour HOT FUDGE milkshake

The highlight of this milkshake is the deep dark hot fudge sauce.  I used an 86% Intense Dark Chocolate from Ghirardelli.  The darkly sweet chocolate flavor pairs perfectly with the sweet and creamy ice cream.

Also, what’s a milkshake without sprinkles?  Tragic.

happy hour HOT FUDGE milkshake

Here’s what you’ll need:

Any flavor ice cream that makes you swoon.  I went with French Vanilla.

Whole milk.  Treat yourself.

Pure vanilla extract and a swig of bourbon (if you’re into that sort of thing).

Dark Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce.  Don’t worry, we’ll make enough so your roommate (or husband or brother or girlfriend or wife) can have a sundae when they get home.

Sprinkles and chocolate shavings.  Because you’re worth it, every bit.

happy hour HOT FUDGE milkshake

Combine all the creamy, boozy, and vanilla elements and blend (in a milkshake machine or blender) until smooth and irresistably thick.  Keep the fudge sauce on stand-by.

happy hour HOT FUDGE milkshake

Part of me wishes that milkshakes were made in martini shakers… that’s the part of me that wanted to be a bartender instead of a baker.

happy hour HOT FUDGE milkshake

I’m such a sucker for a frosted tin.

happy hour HOT FUDGE milkshake

A milkshake without whipped cream is like a cat without a head.

Not an appropriate comparison… but seriously, no one wants a headless cat.

happy hour HOT FUDGE milkshake

It’s like this cherry is saying, ‘This way to a dang good time!’.

happy hour HOT FUDGE milkshake

Dark chocolate hot fudge is generously poured in a glass.  Thick milkshake fills the glass.  Whipped cream is dolloped.  Sprinkles and chocolate shavings rain down.  Cherry to top.  Straw and… just like that… my milkshake escape.

Gosh that’s good.

Happy Hour Hot Fudge Milkshake 

Print this Recipe!

fudge recipe adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook

For the Fudge:

1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 ounces good dark chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped (I used Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolate)

2 Tablespoon unsalted butter, cup into small cubes

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Milkshake:

2 cups vanilla ice cream

1 cup whole milk

1 ounce bourbon (optional)

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

For the Whipped Cream:

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To Make the Fudge:
Stir together cocoa powder, brown sugar, corn syrup, cream, salt and half of the chopped chocolate in a 2-quart heavy saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until chocolate is melted.  Cook mixture at a low boil, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

Remove pan from heat, add remaining chocolate, butter and vanilla and stir until smooth.  Cool slightly before serving.

Cooled sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.  Reheat over how heat, stirring.

To Make the Whipped Cream:
In a medium bowl whisk together heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Whisk by hand (because you have muscles) until soft peaks form. Allow to chill in the refrigerator while you blend the milkshake.

To Make the Milkshake:
In a blender (or milkshake machine) combine ice cream, milk, bourbon, and vanilla. Blend until thick and creamy. Add more ice cream to thicken to desired consistency or more milk to thin to desired consistency.

To Assemble the Milkshake:

Pour a few tablespoons of warm fudge into a tall glass. Top with milkshake. Dollop on whipped cream. Sprinkle with jimmies and chocolate. Cherry to top and serve immediately.

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Sponsored by Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolate. Create your escape here.

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Questions

244 Responses

  1. Hi Joy! This looks awesome! For the fudge, when yoy say “Cook mixture at a low boil, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.” does it mean we should cook it until the mixture starts to boil, or just for 5 minutes even if it hasn’t boiled yet? Thank you :) I really want to try this milkshake!

  2. I like this video the milkshake looks delusions yummy yummy I want one like it please give me this pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

  3. that was amazingly perfect! I used to work at dairy queen in the summer as a teenager and I know that waffle cone smell!

  4. I’ve seen a lot of good food photography, and I’ve seen a lot of cooking shows on tv, but this video hits a new sweet spot (no pun intended) between them. Using video to express more than you can in a picture but in the same artful way as a picture; and letting the food do the talking instead of a host who, let’s face it, will always be less attractive and appetizing than whatever is being prepared. (And is it just me or is it really nasty when cooks taste and then ooh and ahh over their own food on tv?). Anyway, well done you. It’s 7:56 am and I want a milkshake.

  5. This looks decadently sinful…

    PS: My name’s Mia and I’m a new food blogger on Chinese/Italian/Korean/Japanese/American recipes and restaurant reviews. Feel free to browse around my page.

  6. Video = aMAZEballs! seriously love it. the music is cute. The video captures each and every delicious detail, even the sweating of the glass. And now I’d like a milkshake please!

  7. That has got to be the single most amazing milkshake recipe video I’ve ever seen! You are all sorts of awesome Joy!

  8. Joy, you are so adorable and magnificent and just amazing :) The last picture of that milkshake is pure foodporn and I love it. <3

  9. my 8 year old nephew is now in love with you after watching that video…..he declared “whoa we need to make that!”

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  11. Great job on the video Joy and friends! I look forward to seeing more things like this! (PS that sprinkles sound was everything I had hopped for and more.)

  12. I had the worst day at work and this video just cheered me right up. Thanks for bringing me a bit of Joy. :)

  13. Joy! You are so inspiring! Your video is wonderful, keep them coming. I now have the CRAZY urge to go home and make this bourboney milkshake!!!

    Thank you for everything you do! You bring brightness to my dull dull dull days!

  14. get out of town Joy the Baker! that was EVERYTHING (in my Richard from Project Runway voice). i saw what you did there and i liked it. i liked it very much.

  15. This looks amazing in its entirety but I was dying just watching you scoop that perfect looking ice cream. Who makes it?!

  16. Joy!
    It’s so fun seeing yet another creative side to you; the video is delightful ;)a bright spot in my day!

    I was raised in Kentucky, so I always appreciate your use of bourbon…never stop.

  17. Although we had vastly different musical interests when we were 15 I know we would totally have still been friends.

    I’m Pinning this for a post-baby super magical indulgence!

    xo
    cortnie

  18. WOW! That looks amazing. Mm… I have a friend who hates milkshakes and another friend who hates hot fudge…and I just DON’T GET IT!!!

  19. By the time you brought out the ice cream in that video I’m pretty sure I was already completely drooling. I have never used ”hot fudge” and ”happy hour” in the same phrase but it sure does sound delightful! Thanks for the recipe!

  20. Wow, that looks amazing!
    How about “a cat without whiskers” instead of without at head, bad image

  21. Looks sooooooooooo good!!!
    On another note, what font do you use for your blog? Love the way it looks and would love to use it as my default on my computer.

  22. I can’t get hold of corn syrup anywhere around here (I live in India). What can I substitute?
    This looks divine and I really want to try it out.

  23. Joy, can you please be my awesome neighbor who comes over all the time so we can make delicious milkshakes together and enjoy them in the sunshine. Your video (especially the whip cream sound effect) totally sold me on deciding that yes, I do need a milkshake(s?) in my life.

  24. This made me really want to meet you, chat about your (cool) life over THIS milkshake. Thanks for making life more fun!

  25. Oh. This sounds magical. I’m such a sucker for a good milkshake, heck it doesn’t even have to be a good one. Thanks for sharing!

  26. Wow, that video – I die! I adore everything about it and that milkshake looks amaze!
    P.S – I totes notice your bangs all the time now (in a good way) :)

  27. Your last two photos made my day, especially the second-to-last one, the closeup of the whipped cream, sprinkles, and perky red cherry. You’re right, a milkshake without sprinkles is tragic, as is a headless cat. Love it.

  28. This is such a brilliant post. The cat head comparison I can completely relate to. Got asked whether or not I wanted whipped cream in my hot chocolate today. Don’t understand why that’s even a question. I am so going to try this.

  29. I love the video! I usually don’t like video recipes (partially because I fear I would annoy my own readers with my voice and mannerisms), but the production quality and the purely visual “recipe” are gorgeous! I’m glad I clicked.

  30. Joy! the video is beautiful! Keep making them. The lighting, editing and typography was excellent. Not to mention you! Very cute. did you change your hair? It looks different.
    Thanks for being you.

  31. I had to jump down here and comment on your AWESOME video before I forgot – can I say CHARM in spades, love the editing, LOVE the music, please keep them coming Joy!

  32. Hi Joy! Your writing and spontaneous recipes warm my heart and I can envision myself in your teenage shoes enjoying that ice cream on that sun warmed stoop stoop-this was just the little pick me up I needed to scroll through after a long day of work (I’m at a coffee shop/lunch stop and perpetually smelling like fried things, bacon, and coffee in there somewhere-smelling like a waffle cone would be a welcomed reprieve).

    Bring on the sprinkles!

    xx
    Emma ( The Kitchen Pen)

  33. No!!! Omg this looks amazing. I’d do anything for a bite!
    I worked at a Sonic when I was a teenager, and for each lunch break, I always brought my lunch, but would grab a kids’ cup and make an ultimate sundae with every topping imaginable…heaven. If only I had access to a real ice cream shop, I would have loved that!

  34. Very well done! I love the time and energy you put into your posts. This video is so fun and well put together.

    (from a fellow, first job ice cream scooper who also had a pizza place next door we would swap our goods with!)

  35. daaayyyyyum girl, your milkshake must bring all the boys to the yard. and girls too – i’m comin’ for one of these!
    ps. i totally worked in an ice cream shop when i was a teenager too. thank goodness for teenager metabolism!

  36. “A milkshake without whipped cream is like a cat without a head”…..

    which is, of course, my new Facebook status.

  37. Just had to say that I loved that video! Makes me so happy just to watch it, even without a milkshake in hand!

  38. oh. my. you did not just make me slurp at my computer screen. in the office.

    despite the fact that it’s about minus 500 degrees in london (only a very slight exaggeration there), i am, unsurprisingly, still salivating at the prospect of this sundae.

  39. My first job was in an ice cream shop too…I can relate to the smelling of waffle cone! Although I didn’t make friends with the pizza place next door right away, I ended up working there next. And now I smell like pizza instead of waffle cone after work. :( Oh well…I guess this hot fudge milkshake is the ticket to bringing back those memories!

  40. Let’s talk first about how adorable you are. Because seriously? You are the cutest. Secondly, I need this in my face immediately if not sooner. Love.

  41. ok, this video made my day. sorry to sound stalker-ish, but i see that your boyfriend made it and that just makes me happier than a jar of sprinkles.

    one question: did you have to think extra hard about your nail polish for that day? or are you just always that awesome? i don’t think i could ever be caught with nails that nice on a random day.

    1. look at you… all up in my area code like you know my number. just so you know, i got my nails done specifically to shoot this video. they’re never ever ever ever that perfect if i don’t plan on it.

  42. At first I read “Jared Leto” as “Jay Leno” and was totaly confused, but then thought…. well, different strokes for different folks, and all that. But then reading the comments it became clear to me… lol!!!! That was a good laugh.

    I LOVE this video; so cool and fresh and new, awesome job, and the milkshake looks divine as always.

  43. Stop it. This is THE best thing I’ve seen in a long while. How fabulous is that video?! And how incredible is that milkshake!? Bravo, friend. Bravo.

  44. Love the video! I just had a homemade chocolate shake while I was on vacation and boy, was it good. It’s the simple pleasures that taste so good :)

  45. That Video made me swoon. Seriously beautiful. Watched it as I drank my green smoothie this morning, and with every sip of my smoothie I wished it was that milkshake!!!

  46. I love the video. but now I really want a milkshake and its only 10:30 am. And I def. want sprinkles on it.

  47. I love your story, and this milkshake. Now I’m imagining a glorious vanilla-scented malted RUM milkshake. Heaps of sprinkles.

  48. this looks fantastic but there’s gotta be a better bourbon for this than Maker’s. :P have you tried Bulleit?

  49. Joy, this looks incredible, and that video is so cute! I so admire your creativity, and your posts never fail to brighten up my day!

  50. A Mariah Carey AND Jared Leto reference, in one sentence? Girl I can relate. PS complete My So Called Life collection on Netflix instant.

  51. I read the post’s title, and was going to let this one go by. Then I saw your photo – hahaha – SOLD!

    Could you please clarify the amount of butter for the fudge?

    Thanks!

  52. Oh Joy, I don’t think I could love you any more if I tried. Just when I thought my fondness for you was it its peak, BOOM, you go and make an adorable video like that. My love has reached new heights. Thanks for (always) making me smile (but especially today).
    Juliet

  53. “a milkshake without whipped cream is like a cat without a head.” Totally not an appropriate analogy! But your dreams of becoming a writer came true and that totally made me laugh. I don’t like milkshakes but I read this post, doesn’t that make you feel good?

  54. It also never hurts to throw a shot (or more…don’t feel like you have to measure…) of Bailey’s in a milkshake. Such a great after-dinner treat. We keep rainbow sprinkles in the house at all times just in case a Bailey’s milkshake needs to be made!

  55. I’m new to your site and glad I found you.

    You are a talented author and loved your story. I felt myself sitting next to you as we took a break and enjoyed our milkshakes.

    And the video qualifies as food porn. I’m surprised my wife didn’t ask what I was looking at because I’m sure my eyes dilated and my breathing changed.

    And I no longer drink alcohol or eat ice cream or anything else with processed sugar in it! I bake for others which is the reason I joined your terrific site.

    So now that I’ve fantacized about making and drinking this shake excuse me while I fantacize about smoking a cigerrete in bliss.

    Ed

  56. This video is just awesome. The editing is really good, along with the music and the sounds of each ingredient. I’m kind of obsessed with it. So cool. Can’t wait to see more where that came from!
    And of course the milkshake looks to die for. Reminds me of childhood.
    xo Quinn
    Quinn Cooper Style

  57. Oh the pre-cellphone days. Even though mine were not mostly that hot and sunny, they were hotter and sunnier than this wintry spring we’re having right now! This conjures up a summer I can only dream of right now, but it sure is an indulgent one. I didn’t really grow up on milkshake, but this is one I definitely want to try making. Pinning it in case we do have a summer this year…and if we don’t by August, I’m going to turn up the heating and pretend like we do ;)

  58. I was Jared Leto obsessed at that age too – was it the grungy hair and checked shirts? This post made me laugh so much and wonder whether pre-cell phone life was just a lot easier?

    The pics of the icecream look AMAZING! cant wait to try it :)

  59. Wow. This looks amazing. I love that bourbon features highly in so many of your recipes. Oh, and I love that you featured toast! (too?) often bourbon and toast (but not together, as yet) are the highlight of my day. Thanks for validating my food choices!
    :D

  60. I could not even make this up but for the first time in my life, today, I made hot fudge sauce using the Gourmet/Epicurious recipe. I am taking pictures of it in the morning! I swear I want to devour it right now…and seeing your gorgeous milkshake with the same sauce even makes me want it more! Beautiful, Joy!

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