This easy caramel sauce is made with heavy cream and your choice of flavorings. Make it salted or unsalted, or with vanilla, whiskey, or bourbon. Rich and delicious, it's superior to store bought!
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[June, 2021: I've reworked the recipe and updated this post with all new pictures. Enjoy!]
Why this recipe works
- A versatile and easily customizable dessert sauce
- Makes 1 cup of delicious caramel sauce
- Uses common ingredients with no added preservatives or additives
I like recipes that are bedrocks, yet can be manipulated to make many different version.
With homemade caramel sauce (aka caramel topping), you can flavor it with salt, vanilla, both salt and vanilla, or add a spirit like whiskey or bourbon. Each will make a divine dessert sauce.
Don't be shy about making this easy homemade caramel sauce recipe. You'll be glad you did!
Recipe Ingredients
You only need a few ingredients to make a caramel sauce recipe:
Ingredient Notes
Sugar: The essence of caramel is sugar that has been melted and browned. It's very easy to burn the sugar as it melts, so it's important to keep a watchful eye on it.
Heavy cream: Loosens the caramel and adds its creamy rich flavor to the sauce.
Water (not shown) and corn syrup: Used to stabilize the sugar as it melts and caramelizes. Both aren't strictly necessary, but recommended. You can also use honey, agave syrup, or golden syrup. instead of the corn syrup. See the FAQs for more information.
Flavorings: Salt, vanilla, or spirits like whiskey or bourbon can be added as different flavoring options. You can also use wine or whiskey as a base to keep the flavor of the spirit without the alcohol.
See the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Caramel sauce flavoring options
A homemade caramel topping is rich and flavorful, without the chemicals and preservatives found in the commercial stuff, and there are lots of flavoring options to spruce up your caramel topping. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Salted Caramel Sauce: Add 1 teaspoon salt with the butter.
- Vanilla Caramel Sauce: Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or scrape the seeds from ½ a vanilla bean) with the butter.
- Salted Vanilla Caramel Sauce: You guessed it...add both the salt and vanilla with the butter.
- Whiskey Caramel Sauce: Adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of your favorite whiskey or bourbon at the end will give your caramel topping a boozy kick. Or, use wine, whiskey, or bourbon as a base to take this dessert sauce to another level of flavor.
How to make caramel sauce
Step 1: Caramelize the sugar
Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup together in a 3-quart saucepan, and heat to boiling over medium heat. After the mixture comes to a boil, cook until the sugar caramelizes to a deep amber color. DO NOT STIR during this process, just wash down sides of the saucepan with a wet pastry brush (photo 1).
It will take about 10 to 12 minutes for the sugar to caramelize (photo 2). Just be warned, the sugar syrup can go from light amber to a black mess very quickly, so keep an eye on it and remove from heat as soon as the desired color is reached.
The boiling sugar will also go from noisy to quiet as the sugar caramelizes, so you can listen for that.
Step 2: Add the heavy cream, butter, and flavorings
Once a deep amber color is reached, remove from heat and SLOWLY add the warmed heavy cream. The mixture will boil up, so stir continuously to keep the mixture from bubbling over. Stir until combined, then return to heat and add the butter and any flavorings (photo 3).
Step 3: Cook a little longer
Keep boiling the caramel, stirring occasionally to keep the mixture from bubbling over, until a digital thermometer or a candy thermometer registers about 230°F, about 1 to 2 minutes more (photo 4).
Step 4: Cool to room temperature
Pour the caramel into a storage container with a tight-fitting lid (like a canning jar), and cool to room temperature before using (photo 5). It will thicken as it cools.
Storage instructions
Store the caramel for up to 1 month in the refrigerator, sealed tightly in the jar. When you want to serve it, reheat it gently in the microwave (20 second increments at 40% powder) or on the stove over low heat until it has reached your desired consistency.
What can go wrong with caramel making
There are three possible pitfalls when making a homemade caramel sauce recipe:
The sugar seizes up while it's melting
If the sugar crystalizes during the melting stage, some impurity got into the mixture. That's why it's important not to stir the mixture, instead wash down the sides of the pot with a pastry brush dipped in water.
Fix the sugar by adding some water with 1 to 2 tablespoons corn syrup to soften the sugar crystals, then cook the mixture again until it's reached the correct color.
The sugar gets too dark while caramelizing
Believe me, I've been there, getting distracted by life while caramelizing sugar. When that happens, there's no fixing it. You'll have to start over.
The caramel cooks for too long or not enough time
Cooking the caramel requires a bit of patience. The magic temperature is 238°F (the soft ball stage). This is the point in making caramel where the final product will be runny enough to pour (but not too runny), rather than chewy caramel candy.
Having a digital or candy thermometer really helps, or you can use the drop-of-caramel-in-a-glass-of-water method and check the texture. Personally, I prefer the precision of thermometers, but you do you.
If you've undercooked the caramel topping, return it to the heat and cook until it's the right temperature. If you've over-cooked the caramel, there's not a whole lot you can do to fix the problem. Enjoy the candy you've made and try again.
Uses for caramel sauce
Caramel sauce is perfect for...
- Drizzling onto tarts (like an Apple Galette), cakes, cookies, or muffins (like these Salted Caramel Pumpkin Muffins)
- Mixing into gelato for a caramel swirl
- Pouring onto bread pudding or ice cream
- Use it to make caramel apple dip
- Sharing the caramel goodness with family and friends. It makes a great hostess gift!
- Spooning directly into mouth (did I say that out loud?)
Questions asked and answered
Here are some questions you might have...
Adding water to the sugar while it's caramelizing (called a "wet caramel") helps to keep the sugar from burning. If you leave it out, the sugar will turn amber faster, but you have to be super diligent, swirling the sugar in the pan to melt it evenly.
Corn syrup helps to keep the sugar from seizing up during caramelization. It's optional, but recommended. However if the sugar does end up crystalizing during the melting stage, add some water with 1 to 2 tablespoons corn syrup to resoften sugar crystals and recaramelize the syrup.
You can substitute honey, golden syrup, or agave syrup in place of the corn syrup for this recipe. Since we're using such a small amount, they won't noticeably change the flavor of the finished product.
If the leftover caramel has hardened in the pot, add enough water to cover it and and bring it to a boil. The boiling water will melt the remaining caramel, and you can then wash it away.
I hope you like this recipe! Let me know if you have any questions, and don't forget to leave a comment and rating. Thanks!
Slainté! L’chaim! Cheers!
- Tammy
More dessert sauce recipes to try
Recipe
Homemade Caramel Sauce
Equipment
- 3-quart heavy saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water, optional, see Recipe Notes
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup, optional, see Recipe Notes
- ¾ cup heavy cream, warmed between 100°F to 110°F
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- flavorings, optional, see Recipe Notes
Instructions
- In a 3-quart heavy saucepan, stir together the sugar, water, and corn syrup until the mixture looks like wet sand. Bring the mixture to boil over medium heat and cook until the caramel has a deep amber color, about 10 to 12 minutes. DO NOT STIR during this process, but wash down sides of saucepan with a wet pastry brush. Watch it carefully as the caramel will turn dark very quickly at the end.
- Once a deep amber color is reached, remove from heat and SLOWLY add the warmed heavy cream. The mixture will boil up, so stir continuously to keep the mixture from bubbling over. Stir until combined, then return to heat and add the butter and any flavorings.
- Remove from heat, pour the caramel into a storage container with a tight-fitting lid (like a canning jar), and cool to room temperature before using. It will thicken as it cools.
- Storage instructions: Store the caramel for up to 1 month in the refrigerator, sealed tightly in the jar. When you want to serve it, reheat it gently in the microwave (20 second increments at 40% powder) or on the stove over low heat until it has reached your desired consistency.
Notes
- Salted Caramel Sauce: Add 1 teaspoon salt with the butter.
- Vanilla Caramel Sauce: Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or scrape the seeds from ½ a vanilla bean) with the butter.
- Salted Vanilla Caramel Sauce: You guessed it...add both the salt and vanilla with the butter.
- Whiskey Caramel Sauce: Adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of your favorite whiskey or bourbon at the end will give your caramel sauce a boozy kick. Or, use wine, whiskey, or bourbon as a base to take your caramel sauce to another level of flavor.
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