Salted Caramel Sauce

This weekend was a slow cooking weekend for me….in fact it was pretty much a nonexistent cooking weekend.  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to get my groove on in the kitchen, it was just because we were so busy with activities now that Christmas is in full swing.   However, I did manage to make this very delicious and decadent caramel sauce to drizzle over my bowl of ice cream.   I was on the hunt for a salted caramel sauce to top some pumpkin cupcakes with and I found this recipe on the fabulous Smitten Kitchen.  This is one of the easiest and most versatile things to toss together.  In a matter of a few minutes you have a delicious dark, rich, salted caramel to drizzle over dessert or spread on a pastry.   The hardest part is not eating it straight out of the pot.

First you want to melt your sugar in a large non-stick pot over a medium high heat.  Stir or whisk the sugar so it melts evenly.

Cook the melted sugar until it is a dark amber color.

Add the butter in all at once and stir until the butter melts.

Turn the heat down to low and pour in the heavy cream.  Be sure that the cream is at room temperature or the sugar will become hard and lumpy and it will be difficult to whisk.

Whisk the sauce until it is smooth.  You can use it immediately or store it in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Drizzle it over ice cream, spread it on pumpkin bread, drizzle over cheese cake or eat it straight off the spoon.  No matter how you choose to enjoy it you will love it.

Warning:  This sauce is highly addictive.

Print Recipe

Salted Caramel Sauce (Makes about 1 1/3 cups) (Smitten Kitchen)

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) salted butter, the better you can get, the better it will taste
• 1/2 cup plus two tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature

Melt the sugar over medium to moderately high heat in a two or three quarts pot, whisking or stirring the sugar as it melts to ensure it heats evenly. If it starts to clump keep don’t stress it will even out.  Cook the melted sugar to a nice, dark amber color. Add the butter all at once and stir it in, turn down to a low heat and pour in the heavy cream (The sauce will foam up quite a bit when you add the cream), whisking it until you get a smooth sauce.

You can pour it over a dessert right away or you can store it in an air tight container for up to two weeks.  When you take it out after being chilled it will have thickened a bit.  Microwave for 60 seconds or until it is back to pouring consistency.

Try not to eat it all straight from the jar.