I think refrigeration is the way to be safe
I was searching online to find out the same information. I found some recipes from Martha Stewart Living for Chocolate and Butterscotch sauce. The magz recommends refrigeration for up to 1 week.I wanted to give as gifts and wanted to start asap and thought of canning. I found this information from the web site which is sited in the article:
(PS I think the same would go for caramel sauce. The web site offers advice to only use tested recipes when canning. I think that is good advice because you don't want to give a gift that is potentially dangerous.)
Canning Chocolate Sauces Unsafe
Brian A. Nummer, Ph.D.
National Center for Home Food Preservation
July 2003
Numerous recipes for chocolate sauces circulate on the internet and in newsgroups. Chocolate sauces are low acid recipes and are a risk for botulism food poisoning. Therefore any recipes that use the boiling water canning process are especially at risk. Furthermore, there are no science-based, tested recipes for chocolate sauces utilizing the pressure canning process in either the “USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning” (
1994), the University of Georgia’s “So Easy to Preserve” (
1999), or in publications from land grant University partners in the Cooperative Extension System.
Instead of canning, freeze your chocolate sauce recipe
Freezer Chocolate Fudge Sauce
- ½ cup margarine or butter
- 2 ½ cups sugar
- 3 squares (3 ounces) unsweetened chocolate
- 12 oz. can evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Melt margarine in the top of a double boiler. Add chocolate and melt, while constantly stirring. Add sugar gradually, ¼ cup at a time, while stirring. Then add salt. Next, stir milk in gradually and finally add the vanilla. Cook until desired thickness – approximately 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Pour sauce into a clean, warm, wide-mouth quart jar or similar freezer-safe container(s). Allow the sauce to cool at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours. Seal and freeze.
The sauce should remain soft enough to spoon out portions while frozen.
Works Cited
Cooperative Extension Service. 1999. "So Easy To Preserve," 4th ed. Bulletin 989. The University of Georgia.
USDA. 1994. Complete guide to home canning. Agriculture Information Bulletin No.539. Washington, DC: CSREES-U.S. Department of Agriculture.
This material is based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 00-51110-9762.
Document Use:
Permission is granted to reproduce these materials in whole or in part for educational purposes only (not for profit beyond the cost of reproduction) provided the authors and the University of Georgia receive acknowledgment and this notice is included:
Reprinted with permission of the University of Georgia. B.A. Nummer. 2003. Canning Chocolate Sauces Unsafe. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia, Cooperative Extension Service.
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The University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-4356
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