Last night I was driving home from a church meeting, when I saw this poor guy walking his dead car across 4 lanes of traffic on a busy street, trying to get to the side of the road. Normally I pass by people with car issues because I have my kids with me (and because I know ZERO about cars), but I was kid-free and had cables in the trunk, so I stopped and asked if he needed a jump. If you are a confident candy maker, you can probably make this without a thermometer (but if you’re a candy maker, you probably already have one…) The nice thing about this recipe is that it’s caramel SAUCE, so if you don’t get the temperature exactly right, no harm done, your sauce just won’t have as deep a flavor. It’s not like when you’re making caramel to eat as candy and need it to be hard (but not too hard) at room temperature. Basically the only way to mess this sauce up is to go too far and burn it. Don’t do that. :) I seriously don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard with a complete stranger. What are the odds that you pull over to help a pregnant lady, then your car breaks down, then ANOTHER pregnant lady stops to help you? Ha! I don’t know about that. I’ll give you one guess where the baby is: But I am very relieved that the baby is safe. They said she’s about 4 pounds, 14 ounces, which is right on track. 7 weeks to go! If you’re scared of caramel I totally get it. Caramel is famous for being difficult to make, especially when it’s the Real Deal (read: water and sugar based, no butter in sight). But today we are making Real Deal caramel sauce, sweet and complex and, well, caramelly, and I promise you don’t need to be afraid. The great thing about making caramel SAUCE instead of straight up caramel is that it doesn’t have to set up. If you didn’t cook it to precisely the “right” temperature, that’s ok, because you’re pouring it on stuff anyway. (More about all the stuff you can pour it on below!) Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram
Add water and sugar to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until the syrup is thick and straw-colored, about 300 degrees. Reduce the heat to medium and continue boiling until syrup is a deep amber color, and reaches about 350 degrees. Heat cream in the microwave and keep warm until ready to add to caramel. Remove the syrup from heat when it is deep amber. Carefully pour about a quarter of the cream into the pot and stir. Wait for the bubbles to calm down, then add the remaining cream, in increments if you want. Stir it together. Add salt to taste, vanilla, and lemon juice, and whisk until sauce is nice and smooth.
Also don’t burn the handle off your candy thermometer. Am I scaring you away from making this?? I swear it’s not always this dramatic. I’ve made this caramel sauce a ton of times, it’s not hard. For some reason I was worried that the tip of the thermometer was not submerged in the syrup enough and wasn’t getting a proper reading, so I was tilting the pan to make sure it was submerged. But I didn’t realize that meant the handle on the other side was directly above the flame of my gas burner. Oooops!!!
Make sure the sides of your pot are clean. Sugar on the inner sides of the pot will lead to crystallization and your caramel could seize up. When you pour the sugar in, go slowly and pour it right into the center. If you mess up and get sugar granules on the side of the pot, just dip a pastry brush in water and gently clean the sides of the pot. Don’t leave the stove. Starting caramel sauce and then walking away is a recipe for disaster. Literally. You need to be prepared to spend half an hour at the stove once you get this started (you probably won’t need that much time, but just plan on that). Use a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Like I said before, a quality, heavy-bottomed pot will distribute heat evenly so your caramel doesn’t scorch. It needs to be big enough that when you pour the cream in and the caramel bubbles up, it doesn’t overflow.
Remember, you need to cool caramel sauce down before judging its consistency. If you’re looking at your boiling hot, just-made caramel sauce and thinking “this is too thin” just remember you’re serving it at a much cooler temperature. If you’re looking for an ultra-thick but not hard, fudgy caramel recipe, check out The Salted Caramel Sauce of my Dreams (and while you’re at it, the Salted Caramel Sandwich Cookies that are made with it. YUM.) Now, if you went so far as to make your caramel sauce into actual caramel…sort of congratulations, because now you have caramel? But if you really did want caramel sauce, you can add the caramel to a saucepan with a couple tablespoons of heavy cream. Stir it over low heat until the caramel and cream are combined. Add more heavy cream as desired until the caramel sauce is the consistency you like.
ice cream cake trifle dip apples/bananas/any fruit into it top pancakes or waffles. DO IT. I actually like to mix this caramel sauce with maple syrup and then put it on pancakes, heaven. stir into plain Greek yogurt and top with granola and/or fruit fold into whipped cream and top a cake with it
Does homemade Caramel Sauce need to be refrigerated?
Caramel sauce has dairy in it, so it’s best to keep it refrigerated. Best Banana Cream Pie « definitely gotta put caramel on your banana cream pie. Best Dutch Apple Pie « caramel and apple are a match made in heaven. Apple Crisp with Oatmeal « this already has insane amounts of streusel. Add caramel! No Bake Salted Caramel Cheesecake with Caramelized Bananas « this calls for salted caramel sauce. Just use 1 teaspoon salt instead of ¼ teaspoon when you make the sauce. Caramel Apple Cider Reduction Shakes « this is fall, personified. SO GOOD Sweet Potato Pie with Salted Caramel Whipped Cream « talk about a show stopping Thanksgiving dessert…move over, pumpkin pie. Fresh Strawberry Topping « sooo much better than just adding sugar to your strawberries! Homemade Chocolate Sauce « you’ll never need another hot fudge recipe, ever. Peanut Butter Caramel Sauce from A Dash of Sanity Homemade Raspberry Sauce from Queenslee Appetit Cherry Sauce from Of Batter and Dough
