Shoney’s Hot Fudge Cake Easy Copycat Recipe (Ice Cream Cake Heaven)

Few desserts evoke childhood memories quite like Shoney’s legendary Hot Fudge Cake. This iconic treat, featuring layers of moist devil’s food cake sandwiching creamy vanilla ice cream, all smothered in warm hot fudge sauce and topped with billowy whipped cream and a cherry, became a suburban birthday party staple for generations.

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Why This Recipe Works

This copycat captures the magic of Shoney’s original through careful attention to texture and temperature contrasts. The devil’s food cake provides rich chocolate flavor while staying moist enough to slice cleanly when frozen. The brick-style ice cream creates clean, even layers that won’t shift during assembly. The homemade hot fudge sauce delivers that signature thick, creamy consistency that clings perfectly to the cold cake without becoming too hard. Most importantly, the contrast between the warm fudge and cold ice cream creates the sensory experience that made this dessert famous.

The Legacy of Shoney’s Hot Fudge Cake

Shoney’s Big Boy restaurants made this dessert a cultural phenomenon from the 1960s through the 1990s. The chain’s commitment to this signature dessert was so strong that they established National Free Hot Fudge Cake Day, typically celebrated in December. The dessert represented the golden age of family dining, when restaurants created memorable experiences through generous portions and indulgent treats that brought families together for special celebrations.

What Made Shoney’s Version Special

The original Shoney’s Hot Fudge Cake stood out because of its perfect proportions and temperature contrasts. Unlike many ice cream cakes that became too hard to slice or too soft to hold their shape, Shoney’s version maintained the ideal balance. The devil’s food cake stayed moist even when frozen, the ice cream layer was thick enough to be substantial but not overwhelming, and the hot fudge sauce was formulated to stay pourable even when it hit the cold cake.

Ingredients

For the Devil’s Food Cake:

• Devil’s food cake mix – Provides rich chocolate base with consistent results
• Large eggs – Create structure and richness in the cake batter
• Chocolate syrup – Intensifies chocolate flavor and adds moisture
• Water – Activates the cake mix and creates proper batter consistency
• Vegetable oil – Ensures moist texture that holds up to freezing
• Vanilla extract – Enhances overall flavor complexity
• Kosher salt – Balances sweetness and intensifies chocolate flavor

For the Ice Cream Layer:

• Vanilla ice cream – Must be brick-style for easy slicing and clean layers

For the Hot Fudge Sauce:

• Sweetened condensed milk – Creates creamy base with perfect sweetness level
• Bittersweet chocolate – Provides intense chocolate flavor and proper consistency
• Water – Helps achieve ideal pouring consistency
• Dark corn syrup – Adds glossy finish and prevents crystallization
• Salt – Enhances chocolate flavor and balances sweetness
• Vanilla extract – Rounds out flavor profile

For Garnish:

• Whipped cream – Provides light, airy contrast to rich dessert
• Maraschino cherries – Adds classic sundae presentation and color

Ingredient Notes

To save time, make the cake and use premade hot fudge sauce. Just be sure you get a good-quality fudge sauce that contains real cream and butter, like Herrell’s Original Hot Fudge Sauce.

There is no need to buy fancy vanilla ice cream for this recipe, but you need to get a brand that comes in a rectangular brick container. This will make cutting the ice cream into slices much easier. 

How To Make Hot Fudge Cake

Breaking this recipe down into two separate procedures makes it more manageable. You can make the cake days before you serve it, but the hot fudge sauce is best when it is fresh. 

How to Make the Cake Component

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Oil the inside of a 9 X 13-inch metal cake pan with straight sides. 
3. Line the bottom of the pan with oiled parchment paper. 
4. Combine the cake mix, eggs, chocolate syrup, water, oil, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl. 
5. Mix at low with a hand or stand mixer for 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the speed to medium and mix for two minutes. 
6. Pour the batter into the cake pan and smooth.
7. Bake until the top of the cake is springy, 22 to 25 minutes. 
8. Let the cake cool slightly to release the sides. Run a butter knife along the edges and turn the cake onto a cooling rack.

9. Once the cake cools, cut the cake into two 6.5 x 9-inch pieces. Wrap one half and save for another use. 
10. Use a serrated knife to level the top of the remaining cake. Then cut the cake in half horizontally. 
11. Put two long overlapping sheets of plastic wrap on your work surface and lay the bottom half of the cake on top.
12. Slice the brick of ice cream into enough 3/4-inch slices to cover the bottom half of the cake. Trim off any overlapping ice cream, and cover with the top half of the cake. 
13. Wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for at least two hours or solid

To make the homemade hot fudge sauce:

1. Combine the sweetened condensed milk, bittersweet chocolate, water, corn syrup, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. 
2. Stir continuously until the chocolate melts. 
3. Remove the saucepan from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and cover to keep warm. 

To serve the cake:

1. Take the cake out of the freezer and unwrap it.
2. Slice cake into 6 portions and put them on dessert plates.
3. Spoon the warm hot fudge sauce over the cake.
4. Top with whipped cream and a cherry.
5. Serve immediately.

Recipe Note

This recipe only uses half the sheet cake, so either make 2 hot fudge cakes to use all the cake or save the other half for another use. Regardless, it will be easier to assemble the cake if you work with half at a time.

If you decide to make the whole cake into fudge cake, you will have enough fudge sauce for all the slices, but you will need to get 2 containers of ice cream, of which you will probably use about 1 1/2 of it.

Best Ways To Serve Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake

Maintaining the contrast in temperatures between the hot fudge sauce and the cold ice cream is essential for the best eating experience. Shoney’s traditionally garnishes the cake with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry, but you can add crushed nuts, chocolate chips, or Reeses Pieces. 

Storing Hot Fudge Sundae Cake

Keep this cake in the freezer for up to a month, covered in plastic wrap. Put the cake inside a hard-sided container to prevent it from being crushed. 

You can store the hot fudge sauce for 4 to 5 days in the fridge. Reheat the hot fudge on the stove in a small saucepan over low heat. Remember to throw away any reheated leftover hot fudge sauce. 

Hot Fudge Cake Sundae FAQ

Love chocolate cake? Try these recipes

• Melting Chocolate Cake
• Chocolate Chip Pudding Cake
• Easy Brownie Bottom Cheesecake
• Applebees Molten Lava Cake
• Chocolate and Pistachio Cake

Popular Chocolate Desserts

• Classic Chocolate Fondue Recipe
• Chocolate Dessert Pizza
• Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Easiest Chocolate Pie
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
• Chocolate Covered Strawberries Recipe
• Chocolate Cherry Cobbler
• Brownie Sundae

Be sure to check out more of my copycat cake recipes and easy homemade desserts.

This recipe is from Jenni Field from the Online Pastry Chef, be sure to check out more of her recipes on her blog.

Shoney’s Hot Fudge Cake – Easy Copycat Recipe

Classic ice cream cake with devil's food cake, vanilla ice cream, and hot fudge! Make Shoney's famous dessert at home for any celebration.

5 from 5 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Hot Fudge Cake, Shoney’s Hot Fudge Cake

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 12

Calories: 709kcal

Author: Stephanie Manley

Ingredients

Cake

• 15.25 ounces Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake Mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup chocolate syrup
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
• 3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 32 ounces rectangular carton vanilla or vanilla bean ice cream Do not use French vanilla

Hot Fudge Sauce

• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 8 ounces (by weight) bittersweet chocolate (chips or chopped chocolate)
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup or dark corn syrup
• 1 heavy pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

Garnish

• 1 cup lightly sweetened homemade or canned whipped cream
• 6 maraschino cherries drained and patted dry

Instructions

Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13-inch metal cake pan (don’t use glass; metal pans provide straighter sides). Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with nonstick spray. Set aside.
• Place all the cake ingredients (except for the ice cream) in a large bowl. Mix with an electric hand mixer on low speed for about 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl. Then mix on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as necessary.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spoon or spatula. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until the cake starts to shrink away from the sides of the pan and springs back when pressed lightly.
• Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Then remove the cake from the pan, peel off the parchment paper, and place the cake on the wire rack to cool completely.

Hot Fudge Sauce

• Combine all the sauce ingredients (except for the vanilla) in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until all the chocolate has melted.
• Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Keep warm or reheat before serving.

Ice Cream Cake Assembly

• If the top of the cake is uneven, level it with a knife. Carefully slice the cake in half horizontally, creating two thinner layers of cake, each about 3/4 inch thick. Leave the layers in place and cut the cake in half along its width to create 4 rectangles, each about 9 x 6 inches. Set half of the cake aside (for another use or to make a second hot fudge cake).
• Place 2 layers of plastic wrap on the counter, large enough to wrap the assembled ice cream cake. Place one rectangle of cake onto the wrap.
• Peel off the cardboard from around the ice cream and slice the ice cream into 3/4-inch slices. Arrange the slices on top of the cake so that the surface of the cake is completely covered.
• Trim the ice cream to match the dimensions of the cake and put any leftover ice cream in a freezer container to eat later.
• Place the second rectangle of cake on top of the ice cream and press down lightly.
• Wrap the cake with the plastic wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours.

To Serve

• Slice the cake into 6 squares and place each square on a serving plate.
• Pour some of the hot fudge sauce over each square and top with whipped cream and a cherry.

Nutrition

Calories: 709kcal | Carbohydrates: 85g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 108mg | Sodium: 503mg | Potassium: 584mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 64g | Vitamin A: 670IU | Vitamin C: 1.3mg | Calcium: 293mg | Iron: 3.4mg