This recipe for salted caramel sauce is one of the easiest recipes with sugar I’ve ever made. And not just that – it’s also very versatile – pour it on top of your favourite pudding, ice cream, use it as a filling or just dive in with a spoon!
Similar to my old-fashioned chocolate syrup recipe, this one is much better homemade than bought in a shop (and very budget-friendly too!)
Why make this recipe?
- Easy to make
- Not need for thermometer to make this recipe
- Great to give as a present
My top tips on making this recipe successfully the first time round
- Leave the sugar to dissolve properly before boiling it
- Don’t stir the boiling sugar too much as this might re-crystalise the mixture.
What makes this recipe work
- The rich flavour comes from the butter and double cream
Any specialist equipment needed?
The great thing about this recipe is that you don’t need any specialist equipment or digital thermometer. Just medium sized saucepan, wooden mixing spoons and pastry brush.
Time saving tip
Double up the recipe if you are thinking of making this as a present.
Pro tip
To get sweet caramel with a sharp (but very pleasant) taste of salt, use sea salt flakes. These won’t dissolve completely and you will end up with a separate flavour of caramel and salt, which will only come together when they dissolve in your mouth.
If you are after all round mixed flavour of sweet/salty caramel, use fine salt. This salt will dissolve into the caramel and you will end up with salted caramel.
Which one you choose is a personal choice. I know that there are people who find the salt blended in sweet caramel fairly repulsive, but they are O.K when it’s more localised and added in. I have to say, that I always use salt sea flakes when I’m making this sauce as a chocolate truffle filling and the combination with chocolate is just perfect.
Ingredients
- granulated white sugar
- salted butter
- double cream
- salt
The method
Heat the granulated sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. The sugar will form clumps and eventually melt into a thick brown, amber-colored liquid as you continue to stir. Be careful not to make the liquid too brown or even burn it. It’s easily done.
Once the sugar is completely melted, add the butter. The mixture is going to bubble and increase in volume. Stir the butter gently into the caramel until it is completely melted. The next job is to add the double cream – pour it in very slowly and watch out as the caramel sauce bubbles even more. Be careful, because the caramel has a habit of splattering around and hot sugar is no fun!
Boil the caramel sauce for about 1 minute or shorter if the mixture looks like it starts to burn. You can always move the pan slightly to make sure the caramel mixture is boiling evenly. Not sure why, but our hob is always burning slightly more in the right top corner, even though it’s a gas one!
Once done, remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt. Pour directly to a prepared jam jars (if making as a present) or allow to cool down before using.
How else you can make this recipe?
This is a great basic recipe, which you can use as a starting point for different variation of salted caramel.
Salted caramel sauce is great with
- Easy Chocolate Brownies >>
- Chocolate sorbet >>
- Hot chocolate drink with Nutella >>
- Chocolate flummery pudding >>
- Vegan chocolate pancakes >>
- Oatmeal Brownies >>
Batch size
This recipe will give you 1 large jam jar of salted caramel.
Scaling up this recipe
This recipe can be scaled up – I’ve made batches 2x the size. You will need large saucepan and please be super careful when you are adding the cream as the cream will steam up and can splatter. The bigger the size, the bigger the splatter, so just take care.
How to store salted caramel sauce
It’s best to store your salted caramel sauce in closed jam jar and in the fridge. Because we’ve not used any preservatives, cold storage is the best.
What can I use salted caramel sauce on?
The taste of salted caramel is quite distinctive, so I would always use it sparingly. The best way to use your salted caramel sauce is to drizzle it on vanilla or chocolate ice-cream, hot or cold pudding, luxurious topping for your morning breakfast porridge.
You can also easily use salted caramel sauce for baking. I’ve used it previously for making my chocolate brownies (just drizzle 2-3 table spoons on top of the brownie mixture before you bake it).
Another great way to use your salted caramel sauce is to make a salted caramel truffles. If you have a chocolate truffle shells already made, you can just fill them with your caramel sauce. Alternatively, you can use your salted caramel to flavour the basic chocolate truffle ganache filling mix.
I’m sure you’ll work out other fabulous ways of using up your salted caramel sauce!
How long does homemade salted caramel sauce last?
This is a tricky one, because we’ve used fresh cream, there is a slight chance that a bacteria growth might occur at some stage and spoil your caramel.
To be on a safe side, I use up my salted caramel sauce within 2-3 weeks of making it and I store it in a closed jam jar in a fridge.
To make sure that your salted caramel sauce doesn’t go off too soon, boil your cream to get rid of any potential harmful bacteria, pot it whilst it’s hot and store it in the fridge.
Can you freeze salted caramel sauce?
Yes, you can freeze it safely for up to 3 month, but you need to transfer it to a plastic container and then freeze it. Glass can be dangerous in the freezer, because cream tend to expand when it’s frozen and could potentially shatter the glass container.
If you are pouring your hot caramel directly to a plastic container, make sure that it’s suitable for both high temperatures and freezer. Leave to cool down completely and then place in the freezer.
How to fix runny or hard salted caramel sauce
If your salted caramel looks like it’s too runny, carry on simmering your caramel for another 5 minutes or so. You can also return the caramel sauce back to the pan even if it’s already cooled down. Just be patient and use a medium heat, so that you don’t burn your caramel.
Remember that you are making caramel sauce, so the mixture ment to be slightly runny. You’ll also notice that the caramel sauce will thicken a little when it cools down completely.
If your salted caramel sauce is to thick, just add a table spoon of double cream to thin the mixture down.
And what are the possible uses for this amazing salted caramel sauce? I’m sure I don’t need to list them all here, as this caramel goes with absolutely everything. Let me know how you get on with yours…
Why not stay in touch…
I hope you enjoy making this recipe and if you do, I’d love to know what you think! Let me know in the comments below or find me on Instagram or Facebook and add the hashtag #cocoaandheart so that I can see your post.
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Magdalena
Easy Salted Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- 200 grams granulated sugar
- 90 grams salted butter
- 120 ml double cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat the granulated sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
- The sugar will form clumps and eventually melt into a thick brown, amber-colored liquid as you continue to stir.
- Once the sugar is completely melted, add the butter. The mixture is going to bubble and increase in volume. Stir the butter gently into the caramel until it is completely melted.
- The next job is to add the double cream – pour it in very slowly and watch out as the caramel sauce bubbles even more.
- Boil the caramel sauce for about 1 minute or shorter if the mixture looks like it starts to burn.
- Once done, remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Pour directly to a prepared jam jars (if making as a present) or allow to cool down before using.
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