salted caramel sauce
If you’ve been around here for a while, then you’ll know that salted caramel is one of my all-time favourite flavours. There’s just something about it that is magic. I use it in a lot of recipes, but I thought it would be nice to have it in it’s own “stand-alone” post, so you can easily find it for future use!
I love to whip up a batch for dipping apples in, drizzling over my coffee, serving with pie and ice cream, and more. It really is quite simple once you get the hang of it, and it hardest part is simply having the patience to make it and let it cool! I also recommend that you bring all of your ingredients to room temperature before starting, as sometimes you can experience problems if cold butter and cream hit the hot sugar. Now let’s make some caramel!
salted caramel sauce
ingredients
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (80mL) water
6 tablespoons (84g) salted butter, roughly chopped
1/2 cup (120mL) heavy cream
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
directions
Measure out all of the ingredients, and allow the butter and cream to come to about room temperature before starting.
In a medium saucepan (choose one with a thick bottom for more even heating!), add the sugar and water. Heat over medium high heat, and don’t stir. As the sugar starts to bubble a little, you can give the pan a very gentle swirl to “stir” it, but don’t use any utensils to do so.
Continue to cook until the sugar starts to melt - it may clump a bit at this point, so keep swirling the pan gently to encourage even cooking. This will take about 8-10 minutes.
Watch the colour carefully, and don’t walk away from the pot! First the sugar will turn light yellow, and then a darker amber. Once you see the dark amber, shut off the heat but keep the pot on the burner, and immediately add the butter and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. This will froth and foam quite a bit!! Keep stirring. Then add the cream, and stir again until it’s completely incorporated. Again, it will froth quite a bit. Continue to stir on the hot burner for about 1 minute, then remove and cool on a cooling rack. Add in the salt and vanilla once the mixture has cooled slightly. Transfer to an airtight container (I like using a weck jar), and move to the fridge where it will continue to thicken.
Tips
Make sure to use a saucepan that is larger than you think as the sugar will foam quite a bit when the butter and cream are added
Never walk away from the sugar while it’s cooking as the colour change can happen quite quickly!
Caramel turned out too runny? It was likely not cooked long enough - next time try cooking it to a slightly darker colour, or for 1 more minute on the heat once the cream is added
Caramel too thick? It was likely cooked a little too long, so add the butter and cream when it’s a slightly lighter colour next time!
Don’t add hot caramel to the fridge right away, as it will increase the fridge temperature too much. Let it come to nearly room temperature before transferring over.
