Salted Caramel Sauce

Course: Desserts, Sauces & Dips

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 20

Cooling time: 1

Total Time: 1 35

Servings: servings

Calories: 200kcal

Author: Dini Kodippili

The Best Salted Caramel Sauce with deep, complex caramel flavor and a touch of salt. Perfect to drizzle on everything, and to gift to friends and family!

EASY - Easy recipe for beginners, but be careful when handling very hot sugar. Recommend using gloves to protect your hands if you haven't attempted this recipe before.

Please use weight measurements for accurate, consistent results. US based cup, teaspoon, tablespoon measurements. Common Measurement Conversions.

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Metric - US Customary

Ingredients

300 g white sugar 1 ½ cups sugar (see notes for corn syrup)
80 mL water ⅓ cup
50 mL Cornsyrup about 3 tbsp, optional but recommended for beginners.
240 mL heavy whipping cream 35% fat (1 cup), warm
172 g unsalted butter 1 ½ sticks / 12 tbsp
½ tsp sea salt more if needed
10 mL vanilla extract 2 tsp

Instructions

Measure all the ingredients and place them in separate bowls. Make sure the butter is softened. Please note, that the heavy cream should be warm when added to the sugar, so make sure it is heated prior to this so that it will be warm when the time comes. It can be heated in the microwave.
Place the sugar, water and corn syrup (if using) in a large saucepan. Swirl to moisten all of the sugar.
300 g white sugar, 80 mL water, 50 mL Cornsyrup
Cook the sugar over medium-high heat until the water comes to a boil and the sugar dissolves. Remember to swirl the pot to evenly dissolve the sugar. Do not stir, as that will cause the sugar to re-seize.
Place the lid on the saucepan and let the sugar syrup cook with the lid closed for about 2 minutes. This is to allow any sugar crystals stuck on the side of the pan to be washed down back into the syrup and dissolve to prevent recrystallization.
Remove the lid and continue to cook the sugar until it starts to turn light yellow in color. Swirl the pot occasionally to make sure the sugar cooks and colors evenly.
If the whipped cream is not warm, heat the heavy whipping cream in the microwave until warm now (very quickly), as mentioned above in step 1.
240 mL heavy whipping cream
When the sugar starts to color, it will continue to deepen in color very quickly. So do not leave the sugar unattended at this stage. Swirl the pot frequently to make sure the sugar cooks and colors evenly without any burn spots.
As soon as the sugar caramelizes to a really dark amber color, remove the pot from the heat and add the warm cream. Stand back as you pour the cream slowly (do not dump it all in at once!) because the hot caramel sauce will bubble up a lot.
240 mL heavy whipping cream
Whisk the cream in, and follow with the softened, unsalted butter and salt.
172 g unsalted butter, ½ tsp sea salt
Return the pot to the stove (medium heat) and continue to whisk, in order to dissolve the butter and mix it smoothly into the caramel. Bring the sauce back to a boil while whisking.
Let the sauce gently boil for about 1 - 2 minutes while whisking.
Remove from the heat. Add vanilla and stir to mix in. To taste the caramel, place a small amount of caramel on a saucer / small bowl and let it cool down for a few seconds. Taste and add more salt if needed. Stir to dissolve.
10 mL vanilla extract
When the sauce has cooled slightly, transfer to glass jars.
Allow the caramel to cool to a slightly warm temperature. Serve while still warm.

Notes

Storage

Store the caramel sauce in heat proof glass jars in the fridge for upto 1 week.

It can also be stored in the freezer, but will need to be thawed to room temperature, and heated gently if needed.

If the caramel is too stiff, place the jar in some warm water to soften the caramel.

Caramel sauce variations

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.

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.

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