Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

I’ve been making this salted caramel sauce for a while now, and at this point, it feels like a curse. Every time I make it, it disappears in record time, and there’d be a reason to make it again. Moderation is everything… I get it, but this caramel sauce is just too good! 🙂

Why this recipe works!

• This recipe uses caramelized white sugar (not brown sugar) as the base. So it’s a true caramel sauce. Brown sugar is used to make butterscotch sauce (like this butterscotch chocolate fudge sauce).
• A complex, deep caramel flavor. This is achieved by cooking the sugar to a very dark, amber color
• Sweet, but not sickly sweet. Again, this is achieved by cooking the sugar to that really dark amber color. This almost burnt caramel is the base of this sauce, which actually lessens the sweetness, while deepening the caramel flavor. Plus the addition of salt gives perfect balance to the sweetness and slight bitterness.
• Rich and decadent. Perfect to top your holiday desserts! From cheesecakes, trifles and cakes, to frostings and pastries. This salted caramel sauce is the perfect topping.
• It’s very versatile. This sauce will also flavor your favorite drinks and other caramel recipes too. Caramel latte? Check! Salted caramel hot chocolate? Check! Caramel apple cider? Check! Salted caramel frappuccino? Check! The options are endless.
• So many variations. Did you know you can flavor caramel sauce? Think coffee, chocolate, fruit juices etc.!

Caramel sauce vs butterscotch sauce

This is kind of a pet peeve for me. I’ve seen so many recipes on the internet and on TV that claim to be an easy caramel sauce, when in fact they are just a butterscotch sauce.

There may not be a difference between the two for some, but for the sake of accuracy, these two are very different. Both in flavor and how they are made.

Caramel sauce

Caramel sauce is made with white sugar + butter + cream + and vanilla (optional, but recommended).

The sugar is caramelized to make the sauce, hence “caramel” sauce. There’s no way around that caramelization. Brown sugar is not caramelized white sugar, and therefore does not work as a substitute.

While caramel sauce is an easy recipe to follow, it can be a little finicky. You absolutely must use a large saucepan to prevent the caramel from boiling over. Otherwise it can be dangerous.

The tips I provide in this post will make the process easier for you. However, you do need to take more care when making caramel sauce, as opposed to butterscotch sauce.

Butterscotch sauce

Butterscotch sauce is made with brown sugar + butter + cream + vanilla (absolutely necessary).

Brown sugar does not need to be caramelized at all to make butterscotch sauce. Brown sugar is just white sugar + molasses. It is the molasses that gives butterscotch that distinct malty flavor. The darker the brown sugar, the more distinct the butterscotch flavor.

With butterscotch sauce, you can add all the ingredients and just heat everything to make the sauce. So it’s easier than caramel sauce to make. Which is probably why some like to call it “easy caramel sauce”.

Butterscotch sauce can be used to replace caramel sauce in a pinch. This is because they both have similar sweetness levels. However, they are still distinctively different in terms of base flavor.

As a side note, you can get the recipe to my brown butter butterscotch sauce here.

How to make salted caramel sauce

Caramelize the sugar

Have ALL the ingredients measured and ready to go BEFORE you start to cook the sugar.

The very first step is to caramelize the sugar. You can do this in one of two ways – by making dry caramel or wet caramel.

I usually prefer to make dry caramel with smaller amounts of sugar. With a larger amount of sugar, I usually make wet caramel. I made a wet caramel for this recipe because I’m dealing with a larger amount of sugar/caramel.

Place the sugar and water in a bowl and make sure all the sugar is moistened with water. I prefer not to stir it, and simply move the pan around gently to distribute the water.

Heat over medium-high heat, while gently swirling the pan occasionally to completely dissolve the sugar. When the sugar syrup comes to a boil, cover the saucepan with a lid. Keep it closed for about 2 minutes.

The condensation collects on the bottom of the lid and flows down into the saucepan, washing down any sugar crystals on the side of the pan.

Uncover and allow the sugar to cook. Keep an eye on it, especially when the sugar starts to turn yellow in color. Swirl the pan to make sure the sugar cooks evenly.

When the sugar starts to turn yellow, the color will continue to darken very quickly to a very dark amber color. So make sure you’re ready with the other ingredients at this point. When the sugar is at the right color, remove from the heat to add the next ingredients.

On a candy thermometer, this temperature should register at about 360° – 370°F. However, you don’t need a sugar or candy thermometer, and simply go by the color instead.

If you want to check out how sugar color changes as it caramelizes, check out this article from Bon Appetit.

Adding the flavoring

Add about 1/2 tsp of salt and vanilla while the caramel sauce is still hot. Stir to dissolve. I like to add a little more, but it comes down to personal taste.

You can taste the caramel sauce to decide how much salt to add. Just put a little bit of the caramel on a saucer and let it cool for a few seconds. Taste the cooled caramel sauce and add more salt if you like.

Cool down and store

Let the sauce cool down, or can it while the sauce is still hot. The salted caramel sauce is best enjoyed while warm or at room temperature. If the caramel sauce is too thick at room temperature, you can gently warm it up in the microwave.

I like to store them in glass jars. This way the sauce can be easily microwaved to warm it up, if I’m ever in need of some delicious homemade salted caramel sauce.

Tips for making perfect salted caramel sauce

• Use a big saucepan to make caramel sauce. When you add cream to the boiling sugar mixture, it will bubble up a LOT. So to prevent the caramel sauce from spilling over, make sure to use a large pot.
• First timers should use corn syrup. Corn syrup helps prevent the sugar from seizing up. So corn syrup is helpful, especially if you’re a little nervous about caramelizing sugar.
• Warm the heavy cream (35% fat). Adding cold cream to very hot sugar will cause the sugar to seize and make a mess. Warming it will help the cream incorporate smoothly into the caramel.
• Use softened butter. Butter should be very soft as well. Room temperature butter is fine too. However during winter, room temperature butter can be on the cooler side. So make sure to let the butter soften in a warm place.
• Unsalted butter is preferred. You can control the amount of salt you add if you use unsalted butter. You can however use salted butter in a pinch, if you don’t have unsalted butter.
• Don’t stir the caramel at the beginning. When the sugar is caramelizing, stop stirring the sugar mixture. ONLY stir the caramel sauce once you’ve added the cream. Especially so if you’re not using corn syrup. Agitating the sugar mix too much can cause the sugar to seize.
• Swirl the pot instead, to cook the sugar evenly.
• Use good quality salt. Avoid table salt and iodized salt. Fleur de sel is obviously high quality, but expensive. You can use a good sea salt or even kosher salt too. Maldon flake salt is great too, but doesn’t dissolve as readily.
• If you’re doubling the recipe, you may need to cook the caramel sugar a little longer at the end. Try one batch first, and familiarize yourself with the consistency that you prefer.

Caramel sauce variations

Here’s how you can make classic salted caramel sauce even better!

• Coffee caramel sauce – Add about 1 tsp of instant coffee granules along with the vanilla and salt. The depth of coffee flavor takes this caramel sauce to a whole new level!
• Chocolate caramel sauce – Add about 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + 1 tbsp cream along with the salt and vanilla, for a nice hint of chocolate. Use darker chocolate for a more prominent flavor.
• Pineapple caramel sauce – Add about 1/4 cup of pineapple juice to the sauce, after the butter. Cook the caramel for an extra minute or two (otherwise, the caramel will be runny).
• Cinnamon caramel sauce – Add 1/2 tsp cinnamon (more if you really like cinnamon flavor) along with the vanilla and salt.
• Spiced caramel sauce – Add 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. OR you can add a combination of ground nutmeg, cloves and cardamom to give this sauce a lovely spicy flavor profile.
• Chili caramel sauce – Add about 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper for a nice spicy kick.
• Regular caramel sauce – Leave out the salt for a regular caramel sauce.
• Burnt caramel sauce – The sugar should be cooked until it reaches just over 375°F. This is sugar that is almost burnt. Then follow the rest of the recipe with the sugar syrup. You will end up with a complex bittersweet caramel sauce.