How To Make Salted Caramel Sauce
04/22/2012
Salted Caramel is probably one of my favorite things next to chocolate and lavender! It’s sweet and yet has a little bite. At first you can’t quite place it, but it has the perfect balance of salty and sweet. You can add it to ice cream, buttercreams, use it as a garnish on many desserts. Salted Caramels have been quite the rage as of late and it’s no wonder because the taste is out of this world! I recommend you make this in small batches, use a medium to large stainless steel sauce pan (this is important!), and don’t leave it unattended. You can burn sugar quite quickly.
This is the type of pot you want to use. Why? Because it’s larger in size and because of it’s stainless steel, you will accurately be able to tell when the sugar is turning to a dark amber. Do not use non-stick surface to make this, unless you want a burnt sugar nightmare on your hands. As you can see, I’ve put my sugar in the pot ready to go, I decided to make a huge batch which was a mistake on my part (you’ll see why). However, for all intensive purposes of getting this done in time for tomorrow, I added some quick fixes and it all turns out okay in the end. Ready? Gather up your ingredients and get ready to watch sugar boil for the next few minutes.
You’ll need the following Ingredients to get started:
1 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Water
3/4 Cup of Heavy Cream (I use 35% whipping cream)
2 Tablespoons of Vanilla Bean Extract (You can use regular vanilla, but WHY?! this tastes AMAZING. Splurge!)
Sea Salt/Kosher Salt to taste (Isn’t that the best part?)
Tools Required? Why yes! Here they are…
Stainless Steel Saucepan Medium-Large (Do not use Non-Stick cookware for this)
Wire Whisk
Silicone Brush & Cup of Water
Storage Jars/Containers
Start by adding your sugar and water to the sauce pan and allow to boil on medium-high for about five minutes. I think it takes longer than five minutes the more you add, but for smaller batches it won’t be too long. Also the bigger your pot, the faster it happens. I know you are going to be tempted to stir that beautiful bubbly concoction but don’t. The beauty of this is the simplicity. Here we have a nice light amber colour after a few minutes. Give that sauce a little whiff….remind you of anything? I think it reminds me of the fair and the caramel apples. The closer you get to caramelizing the better it smells, sweet, sweet caramel!
I threw in my candy thermometer because I was curious what the temp would be when it finally was ready. You do not have to do this, in fact, I’d prefer you don’t. Watch your pot, watch the colour. You are going to be looking for a dark amber colour, and once that occurs, then the magic can happen!
If you notice a build up of Sugar crystals on the sides of your sauce pan, dip your silicone brush in a cup of water and just brush them down lightly. I have done it this way and I have left it as is. Both ways are fine, you do not have to do this either.
Oh it’s happening alright, and it smells crazy good! This is the point that we’re going to remove the sauce pan from the burner and you are going to very slowly add the cream. When I say slow, I mean, really slow. If you just pour it in all willy-nilly and impatient-like it’s going to boil over. The cream reacts with the sugar and you have to whisk and pour at the same time. So small bits, stir, stir, stir and then watch the beautiful colour change.
I have a lot of sugar crystals on my whisk, time to switch to another. This is probably the biggest batch I have made and the pot was too small for such a large amount. (I quadrupled the recipe so I could store some extra for a few projects I have this week) Bigger batch? Bigger pot!
You can now add your vanilla once the cream is incorporated and continue to whisk until you get a smooth finish. I love using real vanilla bean paste, but extract is fine. The flavour is really fantastic and I think it’s a pretty stellar ingredient to have on hand. Once you make the switch you will never want to go back, I assure you.
There is your caramel, beautiful and dark, still watery in consistency but it looks beautiful. See the sugar crystals on the sides? I got side tracked taking photos – I don’t recommend taking photos at the same time. However, I have plans for the little bitty extras. I knew I had made too big of a batch, I ended up with a lot of sugar crystals, but they taste phenomenal on their own, so why not save them? I decided to strain my sauce into a separate bowl (okay I really just wanted to show off my new bowls I got today!) so my sauce would be pure and I could save the little bits for candy pieces.
Not a ton of leftovers, but enough that I could spread them out onto a sheet of parchment and sprinkle with some sea salt. It’s like a werthers original, but better – because you made it from scratch yo!
I know it’s just left over bits of sugar, but it’s still really tasty. Last time I made this sauce, I managed to make some more solid pieces and oh my! They were scrumptious. Can you tell I’m on a strict diet at the moment? It is so difficult for me to not describe how wonderful things taste. Especially when I can only do a sample taste and nothing more. It’s the worlds biggest tease!
Sprinkle your sea salt and mix (I had not mixed mine at this point after adding the salt), then allow the mixture to cool for about 20-30 minutes depending on how large of a batch you make. Like my new funky coloured prep bowls? Once cooled, you can pour the caramel sauce into a garnish bottle, you can put it in a pretty jar and give it as a gift, or you can store it in the fridge to add to ice cream sundaes, coffee and tea, or just use as a dessert garnish. It’ll keep for about two weeks in the refrigerator.
Salted Caramel Sauce - Refrigerate up to 2 Weeks
1 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Water
3/4 Cup of Heavy Cream (I use 35% whipping cream)
2 Tablespoons of Vanilla Bean Extract (You can use regular vanilla, but WHY?! this tastes AMAZING. Splurge!)
Sea Salt/Kosher Salt to taste (Isn’t that the best part?)
In a medium to large saucepan, add your sugar and water and boil until the sugar comes to a dark amber colour. Quickly remove from heat and slowly add heavy cream while whisking the mixture. Add the cream very slowly to avoid boiling over, the mixture will bubble up. Add your vanilla and continue to whisk along with your sea salt. Allow to sit at room temp for 20-30 minutes and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Coming Up: Pretty New Cakes, A New Class with Andrea Sullivan, DVD Tutorial Reviews & Maybe another recipe?
