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Today is the beginning of a new recipe series I’m dubbing Fundamentals. I get a lot of emails from new bakers asking for basic recipes, tips, and product recommendations that will get them started with their newly acquired baking addiction.
While I can’t guarantee rock star status, I can provide you with some practical tips and simple tested recipes that work for me in my kitchen. The first recipe I am going to try and demystify is caramel, more specifically homemade caramel sauce.
I have a confession. Making caramel scares me. I love caramel, whether it’s by itself, sprinkled with sea salt, covered in peanuts, enrobed with nougat…well you get point. Although my love for caramel has been present for many, many years, I just recently started to make my own.
There have been some serious failures along one of which required the disposal of a pan. Yep, I tried to clean that sucker for days, so I ended up chucking it into the trash. Bottom line, caramel is finicky, it goes from perfect to a burnt mess in the blink of eye, but when you nail it, the outcome is extraordinary. Plus, you’ll never have to buy that overly sweet jarred stuff again!
On Friday, I’ll combine this luxurious caramel sauce with my Fleur de Sel Caramels to create one heck of a dessert!
Fundamental Information:
- Caramel is essentially melted sugar.
- There are two basic ways to make caramel: the dry method and the wet method. The dry method involves slowly heating sugar until it melts and is deemed as a bit more difficult. The wet method is more common and is what you will find in today’s recipe.
- In the wet method, granulated sugar is dissolved in water and then boiled until the water starts to evaporate. As the water escapes, the mixture goes through a series of stages that indicates the ratio of water and sugar.
Fundamental Gear:
- Heat safe spatula or wooden spoon
- Heavy bottomed pot (non-stick is easier to clean) – If using non-stick, it may be difficult to know if your caramel has reached the desired shade of amber. Simply use a heat safe utensil to remove a few drops of caramel to a white plate.
- Reliable candy thermometer – you will risk burning your sugar if you don’t have an absolutely accurate thermometer; cheapos from the supermarket typically don’t cut it.
Fundamental Safety:
- Give your undivided attention to the caramel sauce while you are preparing it.
- Caramel is HOT! Be careful. For reference- Water boils at 212°F, we are taking this sugar mixture over 350 degrees, so it’s incredibly hot.
- When you add the heavy cream to the pot of molten sugar, it will bubble violently and steam will escape. Stand back and keep your face away from the pot!
- Avoid a caramel catastrophe by making sure your heavy bottomed pot is large enough. Trust me; you do not want this caramel sauce to boil over onto your stove. It will bring you to tears. When you’re done, be sure to soak your pot and tools with hot water to help the cleaning process.
- Make sure your stirring utensil is heat proof. I typically use a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula.
Uses for Homemade Caramel Sauce:
- Eat it with a spoon
- Spoon it over your favorite ice cream
- Drizzle it over your favorite baked goods
- Stir it into your morning latte to create a homemade caramel macchiato
- Use it as a dip for fresh apple slices
- Jar these up and pass along to friends and family; just be sure to tell them it needs to be stored in the refrigerator
Homemade Caramel Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1/4 liquid cup water
- 1/2 liquid cup heavy cream, heated until warm
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
- In a heavy saucepan (at least 5 cup capacity), stir together the sugar, syrup, and water until the sugar is completely moistened. Place your candy thermometer into the pot taking care that it is tip in immersed into the sugar mixture.
- Heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is bubbling.
- Stop stirring completely and allow it to boil undisturbed until it turns a deep amber (like the color of Bass Ale) (see notes below).
- Immediately remove it from the heat and slowly and carefully pour the hot cream into the caramel. It will bubble up furiously.
- Use a high-temperature heat-resistant rubber spatula or wooden spoon to stir the mixture until smooth, scraping up the thicker part that settles on the bottom. If any lumps develop, return the pan to the heat and stir until they dissolve.
- Stir in the butter and salt. The mixture will be streaky but become uniform after cooling slightly and stirring.
- Allow the sauce to cool for 3 minutes. Gently stir in the vanilla extract.
Notes:
- Keep at room temperature for up to 3 days; refrigerated, about 3 weeks. To reheat, simply place in a microwave safe container and heat for about 45-60 seconds. Stir well.
- I have 3 thermometers and they all register different temperatures. In my opinion, it's best to rely on the color of the caramel as opposed to the temperature. You want to look for a dark dark amber color. However, dark amber goes to burnt in a matter of seconds. If using a thermometer, start paying close attention at about 340 degrees. Once the color deepens, pull the mixture from the heat.
Tempting Twist:
- Use fresh vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract. Simply scrape the seeds from inside ½ vanilla bean. Place the seeds and pod into the cream while it’s warming. Remove pod from the cream before adding to the hot sugar mixture.
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Hi there,
Is there a way to better improve the shelf life of home made and jarred caramel?
Thank you!
Why do you need the corn syrup? I thought it was the oil/fat from the butter that keeps it from solidifying? Just wondering. I don’t know myself and would like to hear your take on this.
I tried experimenting and making caramel sauce a couple of days ago without even looking at a recipe. I put butter, sugar and water in a stainless steel pan and kept stirring over heat until it browned as much as I wanted. Then I stirred in some milk and although it was very bubbly in the pan, it spooned over my bread pudding nicely and stayed soft even over night in the fridge.
I think omitting the butter would have made it a sauce that hardens but I haven’t tried that yet.
Earlier this year I made caramel sauce using the dry method. The resulting sauce was usable but not great and I was a ball of nerves during the whole ordeal. Today I made a batch using your recipe and what a difference! Yes, it did take longer but the process was much less harrowing. I cooked it on my electric stove with the setting between 4 and 5, which turned out to be perfect. I am so happy with the outcome I will never again use purchased caramel sauce. Thank you for a terrific recipe.
Robin-
I am so glad you enjoyed the caramel sauce! Thanks so much for coming back and telling us your thoughts on the recipe. Have a great week!
-Jamie
Thie was the BEST recipe Ive ever tried for this sauce! I put it on Pinterest! :)) Thanks for sharing!!
Carol-
I am so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for reporting back on your experience. Have a great day.
-Jamie
Hi Jamie let me first say that I love your website. It is helping me become a better cook which I am so excited about.
Okay now about the Caramel Sauce. My first attempt, I failed miserably. I was worried about burning my caramel and took the pot off too soon, (I used a non-stick) ending up with a tan colored, grainey mess. However, I stirred this concoction into a hot cup of coffee and it was delicious. My second attempt today about an hour later gave me perfect caramel sauce. I used a stainless steel pan and a “real” candy themometer, not the supermarket (which you warned against) one. I even added some Myers Dark Rum. Haven’t tasted it yet too hot, but it looks and smells perfect. Thank you so much for the step by step.
Lisa-
Hi! Trust me, I have burnt my fair share of caramel sauces, but I am happy to hear you finally nailed it with this one! I love the addition of the Myers Dark Rum – genius. Have a great day.
-Jamie
What’s the corn syrup for? Does it make any difference if omit that ingredient?… i don’t like using corn syrup or any other over processed ingredients.
Luis-
Refiner’s or corn syrup helps to prevent the caramel sauce from crystallizing when stirred. You can substitute Lyle’s Golden Syrup (refiner’s syrup) for the corn syrup. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
Do you realize that white granulated sugar is also heavily refined and processed? Also, the corn syrup used here isn’t the high-fructose type that has gotten so much bad press recently.
Hi Jamie,
This recipe seems to be a total winner.I would like to try this .Can you please suggest a substitute for corn syrup ?anything close to it and can be easily available.Corn syrup is not very popular here in India and the imported ones cost a bomb! Thanks for the superb recipes .
warm regards,
Priya
Priya-
Corn syrup helps to prevent the caramel sauce from crystallizing when stirred. You can substitute Lyle’s Golden Syrup (refiner’s syrup) for the corn syrup. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
Thanks a lot for this! One question: If you have to heat put the sauce back up after adding the heavy cream to make it smooth, do you take it OFF the heat before adding the butter and salt?
Kayla-
Yes, you’ll want to get the mixture smooth, remove the pan from the heat and then add in the butter and salt. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
First time making caramel, I’m a vegan but I followed your recipe with some tweaks:
-used Silk vanilla soy milk for heavy cream (I was worried it wouldn’t thicken up or taste good without using Silk creamer or another vegan heavy cream equivalent, but it didn’t seem to make a difference!)
-I used raw agave nectar in place of the corn syrup…just because I didn’t have any :)
-Smart Balance vegan margarine in place of butter
-Added a little less salt since the margarine is salted
Despite all the lower fat swaps and the agave, it tastes just like normal caramel sauce! Delicious! :) Thanks for your recipe!
I love cooking and baking but caramel has always haunted me. Even with a candy thermometer I manage to burn it every time. This recipe came out great though! I literally just finished making it, and I’m burning my mouth licking the spoon.
One thing I noticed, however, is that my sugar never really turned a deep amber. It was melted and thickening and a lovely light amber color, but then before it got darker it started to congeal and crystallize. I kind of panicked and poured the cream in then. I just kept cooking it for another five minutes with the cream, though, and it darkened and thickened up nicely. Maybe my heat was too low? Either way it turned out great, thank you so much for the great recipe and tips!