This salted caramel sauce goes with just about anything, pour it over ice cream, add to cupcakes, or dip in sliced apples. It’ll keep in the fridge for a few weeks and is so easy to make.
How to Make Salted Caramel Sauce
Start with a medium to large-sized saucepan. The caramel will bubble up while it’s cooking, so you don’t want it to overflow.
Measure out the sugar and add to the saucepan along with a few tablespoons of water.
The water helps the sugar to cook evenly and will evaporate, so don’t be too fussed measuring it out.
Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir it until the sugar starts to dissolve.
Keep the heat at medium and cook the sugar for about 8-10 minutes until it has turned a deep amber shade. It needs to get to about 180 degrees celsius or 350 Fahrenheit.
You can use a sugar thermometer for this, but there is no need; the color of the caramel will tell you when it’s ready.
This caramel only takes four ingredients to make, most of which you probably already have on hand. It’s a great thing to have sitting in your fridge as it dresses up any dessert.
One of my favorite ways to use it is in baking; salted caramel buttercream is one of the best toppings for cupcakes.
Watch the caramel carefully; it’ll go from the perfect shade to burn very quickly. As soon as it gets to the deep shade, take the pan off the heat and immediately pour in the cream.
The cream is going to cool the sugar down and immediately stop it from cooking if you leave it in the pan for too long, the residual heat will keep cooking the caramel.
As soon as you pour in the cream, it will start to bubble up like crazy, just keep stirring until it calms down and the cream has been well incorporated.
You should be left with a silky smooth sauce. As well as cream, I like to add a small amount of butter.
The butter gives the sauce a wonderfully glossy finish and also enriches it a little more than cream does.
Once the sauce has stopped bubbling, add in the butter and stir until it has melted. Lastly, to finish the sauce off, you’ll need some salt.
I like to use flaky sea salt; the flavor is a lot better than just table salt.
Add a large pinch, about 1/2 a teaspoon’s worth, and mix until it has dissolved.
Give it a taste test and add more salt as desired. I always add a small amount first because if you add too much, there’s not much you can do to fix it.
Leave the caramel to cool and pour it into a jar. Store it in the fridge for two weeks and just warm it up in the microwave when you want to use it.
