Salted Caramel Sauce

Salted Caramel Sauce

This here has to be one of my favorite recent recipes. I started making cold brew coffee recently, and this is what I've been using to sweeten it. And I also eat it by the spoonful on occasion. It tastes like See's Candies Butterscotch Lollipop in liquid form. Just delightful.

If you've never worked with molten sugar before, please be extra careful, and watch the video below to see the process. It's not a difficult recipe, but working with melted sugar is always  somewhat delicate and dangerous. 

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure this sauce would taste great on ice cream or the Butterscotch Pots de Creme that I have posted here on the blog. In any case, if you enjoy salted caramel, you'll love this recipe.

Please note that there's a very fine line between flavorful and burnt caramel, so if you're trying this for the first time, err on the side of a lighter-colored caramel. Once you get the feel of it, you can risk going a little darker the next time--because there WILL BE a next time.

Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Equipment/Tools:

• clean & warm 1/2 pint mason jar
• heavy-bottomed saucepan
• small saucepan
• wire whisk
• silicone spatula
• measuring cups and spoons

Instructions:

• Place cream in the small saucepan over low heat. Once it's hot, you can turn it off. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't boil.
• Place the clean mason jar on the stove to stay a little warm while you make the caramel sauce.
• Pour the sugar into the large saucepan set over medium heat.
• It will take a while, like 5-8 minutes before you start seeing the sugar start to melt. When you start seeing melted patches, start gently swirling the pan to evenly distribute the sugar and prevent any burned spots. 
• Continue melting and swirling the sugar until it's a deep amber color. Once it's deep amber, remove from the heat and pour in about half of the cream, which will bubble up violently. 
• Whisk the sugar and cream together, making sure to get any sugar in the corners of the pan. 
• Whisk in the remaining cream, and then the salt. Whisk until smooth, again paying attention to the corners of the pan. 
• Pour the caramel sauce into the mason jar, scraping all the goodness in using a silicone spatula. 
• Allow the caramel to cool enough to touch the jar without hurting yourself, put the top on the jar (not too tight), and allow to cool completely before placing in the refrigerator.
• Use in your coffee or enjoy by the spoonful.

Makes about 1 cup of sauce