Salted Butter Caramel Sauce
Ooey, gooey caramel…who doesn’t love caramel?! I love it on ice cream, I love to dip fruit in it…I love to eat it right out of the jar! I also love it drizzled on apple desserts like this Apple Crumble. This one’s easier because you add the water first instead of the sugar so you don’t have to worry about stirring right away. Keeping the lid on the pot also allows condensation to keep crystals from forming. Try it out if you’re new to making caramel sauce! Make sure your pot isn’t too small because when you add the cream the mixture will boil furiously.
If you don’t own a candy thermometer, spot-check the sugar syrup with an instant-read thermometer that can read temperatures in excess of 350 degrees. Otherwise, follow the time approximations in the recipe and watch the color of the sugar syrup; it should be a deep amber color before the cream is added. To keep the sauce from clumping, make sure the cream is hot before adding it to the sugar syrup; try to coordinate it so that the cream reaches a simmer when the sugar syrup reaches 350 degrees.
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- pinch table salt
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, cold
- pinch of sea salt if desired
- Pour 1 cup water into 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan.
- Add sugar to center of pot to keep granules from adhering to sides of pot.
- Bring to boil over high heat, covered.
- Uncover pot, insert candy thermometer, and continue to boil until syrup is thick and straw-colored, registering 300 degrees on candy thermometer, about 15 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium; continue to cook until sugar is deep amber, begins to smoke, and registers 350 degrees on candy thermometer, about 5 minutes longer.
- Meanwhile, when temperature of syrup reaches 300 degrees, bring cream and salt to simmer in small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat. (If cream reaches simmer before syrup reaches 350 degrees, remove cream from heat and set aside.)
- Remove sugar syrup from heat.
- Pour about one quarter of hot cream into sugar syrup; let bubbling subside.
- Add remaining cream; let bubbling subside.
- Whisk gently until smooth; whisk in butter. Let cool until warm.
- Can be covered and refrigerated up to 1 month; reheat in microwave or small saucepan over low heat.