A simple caramel sauce that goes great on ice cream, cakes, used as filling, or simply by the spoonful.
Prepare: 5 minutesmins
Bake: 15 minutesmins
Total Time: 20 minutesmins
Servings: 12
Ingredients
1cup(200g) granulated sugar
¾cup(180mL) heavy whipping cream
¼cup(60mL) water
2tbs(28g) butter
½tsp(2.5g) salt
Instructions
Pour sugar and water into a heavy bottomed 3 quart saucepan.
Do not stir! Let the mixture simmer at medium low heat until all the sugar is absorbed (it will look clear and not grainy.) Turn up heat to medium high.
The water will boil rapidly and then slow. This means the water is nearly all boiled off and this is where you watch carefully. If using a thermometer, bring the mixture to 325 - 340F (165 - 171C) from golden to dark amber.
Turn off heat, add butter quickly and stir with a heat resistant spoon. It will bubble up and create lots of steam, so be careful. After butter melts, add in the cream and return heat to medium. Continue cooking until mixture reaches 230F (110C.) Remove from heat.
Let it cool about 10 minutes and carefully pour into a heat resistant container. Do not scrap down sides of pan.
Once cool, store in the refrigerator up to 3 weeks. You can reheat it for a thinner consistency, it will be very thick straight out of the fridge.
Notes
Shortcut method Skip cooking the sugar.Simply cook the sugar, cream, butter and salt together until mixture thickens, is golden brown and temperature reaches 230F (110C.)
Some find adding 1/4 cup (60mL) light corn syrup to the water and sugar beneficial in preventing crystallization.
Non-stick pans are notorious for causing sugar to crystalize when making candy. A good stainless steel pan with a heavy bottom is ideal.
If you don't have a thermometer, you can test it by dropping a small amount in cold water. Wait several moments to allow syrup to cool before handling.
Caramel is very hot.Never leave the pan unattended and take extreme care when working with heating sugar.
Adjust the heat as necessary.Do not allow the mixture to boil over, especially on glass stovetops.Hot sugar syrup and milk products can damage glass surfaces.Electric glass stovetops are not recommended for making candies.
Do not touch or taste hot caramel.Use oven mitts and let the caramel cool completely before handling or consuming.You will be burned if you fail to heed this advice.