This easy whiskey caramel sauce is made with heavy cream and your favorite whiskey, bourbon, or wine reduced to a syrup. Deeply flavored, it's caramel sauce taken to a whole new level!
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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 sauce
- Makes 2 cups of delicious whiskey caramel sauce
- Uses common ingredients with no added preservatives or additives
A homemade caramel sauce is wonderful, and adding salt, vanilla, and even whiskey gives you more ways to flavor it.
But if you really want to take caramel to the next level, consider starting with a concentrated spirit to bring intense flavor to the roster. Whiskey caramel sauce (also spelled whisky caramel sauce) is easy to make, and highlights the spirit's unique flavors. And know that the alcohol content will be burned off during the reduction process.
It's guaranteed that whatever you serve it on will be memorable!
Recipe Ingredients
You'll need the following ingredients to make a whiskey caramel sauce recipe (whisky not shown):
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.
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.
Alcohol: You can choose whatever spirit suits your fancy. A full-bodied wine or a deeply flavored whisky or bourbon would be delicious for this homemade caramel sauce recipe.
Salt: Adding salt makes this, you guessed it, a Salted Whiskey Caramel Sauce. It's optional, and will depend upon the flavor profile of the spirit you're using.
See the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Other 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 if you want to omit the alcohol. 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 fresh vanilla bean) with the butter.
- Salted Vanilla Caramel Sauce: You guessed it...add both the salt and vanilla with the butter.
How to make whiskey caramel sauce
Step 1: Reduce the whiskey or wine
Start by reducing the spirit to a thick syrup. Later you'll be adding it to the caramelized sugar along with the heavy cream.
Step 2: 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 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 3: Add the whiskey reduction, heavy cream, and butter
Once a deep amber color is reached, remove from heat and SLOWLY add the whiskey syrup and 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 salt, if desired (photo 3).
Step 4: 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 (the thread stage of candy making), about 1 to 2 minutes more (photo 4).
Step 5: Cool to room temperature
Pour the whiskey caramel sauce 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 whiskey caramel sauce 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 making caramel
There are three possible pitfalls when making a whiskey 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 sauce cooks for too long or not enough time
Cooking the caramel requires a bit of patience. The magic temperature is 230°F (below 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 sauce, return it to the heat and cook until it's the right temperature.
If you've over-cooked the caramel sauce, there's not a whole lot you can do to fix the problem. Enjoy the whisky-flavored caramel candy you've made and try again.
Uses for whiskey caramel sauce
A whiskey caramel sauce is rich and deeply flavored, and so much better than anything you can get in a bottle.
The hardest part is figuring out what to put your caramel sauce on! Here are some suggestions:
- Apple desserts: Caramel and apples are a match made it heaven! Pour the caramel sauce on a slice of apple pie, a serving of apple crisp or caramel apple cobbler, or use it to add zing to a cream cheese caramel apple dip
- Other desserts: Try pouring it on a serving of bread pudding, a scoop of ice cream, or drizzle on scones or tarts
- Just eat it with a spoon (not that I have ever done that)
Have extra homemade caramel sauce? Jar it up and share with a friend. It makes a great gift!
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.
When granulated sugar is being melted to brown, the risk is that impurities can be introduced that will make the sugar crystallize (when the sugar molecules clump together). That's why we don't stir the sugar as it's melting.
Corn syrup is an invert sugar, made by breaking down table sugar (sucrose) into its simpler components. This creates a product with a structure opposite that of the original sugar. It retains moisture better and crystallizes less easily, thus stabilizing the granulated sugar as it caramelizes.
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.
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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
Whiskey Caramel Sauce
Equipment
- 1-quart saucepan
- 2-quart heavy saucepan
Ingredients
- 1½ cups whiskey, wine, bourbon, or your spirit of choice
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water, optional, see Recipe Notes
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup, optional, see Recipe Notes
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream, warmed to 110 °F
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, optional, see Recipe Notes
Instructions
- In 1-quart saucepan, boil 1½ cups whiskey over medium heat until it's reduced to ½ cup, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a 2-quart heavy saucepan, stir together 2 cups granulated sugar, ¼ cup water, and 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (if using) 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 8 to 10 minutes.DO NOT STIR the mixture during this process, but wash down sides of saucepan with a wet pastry brush dipped in cold water to minimize the risk of the mixture crystallizing. Watch it carefully as the caramel will turn dark very quickly at the end - you can also listen as the bubbling will quiet as the amber color is reached.
- While sugar is boiling, heat the heavy cream until warm, about 110 °F on a digital thermometer.
- Once a deep amber color is reached, remove from heat and SLOWLY add the whiskey syrup and the warmed 6 tablespoons heavy cream. The mixture will boil up, so stir continuously to keep the mixture from bubbling over (keep your face and hands away to avoid steam burns). Stir until combined, then return to heat and add 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and 1 teaspoon kosher salt, if using.
- Return the pan to the heat, attaching a digital or candy thermometer to the side of the pan (but not touching the bottom). Bring the caramel back to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally to keep the mixture from bubbling over, until it registers 230 °F, about 1 to 2 minutes more.
- 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.
Glynnis says
Hi Tammy, just made this sauce, and it is delicious. I am not a fan of whisky but my husband is. Made the sauce to go with his 50th birthday cake. It's going to be a whisky barrel cake, no alcohol in the actual cake on account of the children who will be there.
Please update the recipe card to reflect when the whisky is to be added. It's in the initial instructions but not in the latter part. I got caught out and added it in at the very end. Still tastes delicious though 😋.
Tammy Spencer says
Hi Glynnis, Good spot! I've updated the recipe card to show when to add the whiskey syrup, and I appreciate you letting me know. I'm glad you like the recipe, and I hope your husband enjoys his birthday cake - it sounds delicious!