Salted Caramel Sauce
Caramel sauce might be one of Hubby’s favorite things ever. He will always choose a caramel treat over a a chocolatey treat. I’ve just recently gotten more comfortable making my own caramel sauce. It actually is so much easier than I thought it was. Having a candy thermometer is a must for making caramel at home. But that’s really all you need. If you haven’t made your own caramel sauce, do it. Trust me, it’s worth the minimal effort required.
I ended up making a triple batch of this salted caramel during the holidays. I ordered some cute jars online and gave them away as gifts to some family members. Hubby also enjoyed a bunch of this caramel sauce heated up over vanilla ice cream.
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Salted Caramel Sauce
Salted caramel sauce is easier to make than you could ever imagine. And it makes a great gift!
Yield: 2 cups
Ingredients:
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp cold unsalted butter
1 tsp fleur de sel
Directions:
Add water to a 2-qt saucepan. Gently add the sugar to the center of the pot - it will mound, that's fine. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
Once boiling, uncover the pot and insert a candy thermometer. Continue cooking until the mixture registers 300 F and is just starting to develop some color, about 15 minutes.
Reduce heat under the pot to medium and cook until the syrup is amber and registers 350 F on the thermometer, about another 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, pour the cream into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. If it simmers before the syrup is ready, just take it off the heat and set aside.
Remove the caramel from the heat and add about 1/4 of the warm cream to the pot. It will bubble furiously so be careful. Once the bubbling subsides, add the remaining cream. When it stops bubbling, whisk gently to incorporate fully. Add the butter and the salt and whisk to combine.
Refrigerate up to 1 month.
Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, as seen on Erin's Food Files
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I love this!
http://www.simplysweeter.blogspot.com
Fantastic idea, I will have to give this a go x
What a great idea! Now I just have to think of what to pair this with to give as gifts.
Hi Jen,
Great minds think alike!! I have been brewing vanilla extract for months for Christmas gifts.
I thought I’d answer your question here. I love your idea for frosting. It would be heavenly!
Laura
What? You can just add more vodka to your supply? I had no idea! I just used the last of my homemade vanilla, and it was soooo deliciously dark 🙂 Now that I know that, I’ll have to remember when I make my next batch! Do you have a favourite type of bean? I used Tahitian the last time, and it didn’t have that “normal” vanilla scent to it… I’ll have to find which beans give that traditional scent (though, really… any vanilla works for me!)
This is definitely on my gift giving list.
I received homemade vanilla once and it is still one of my favorite gifts.
I have always wanted to try this!! My brother did it once but that was before I was into cooking and I totally didn’t appreciate it. I would now! Thanks!
I think it’s the perfect idea for a gift and never even thought of making it myself. Of course, if I do end up making it, I’ll probably just end up using it all before I give it away! 🙂
how many beans did you put in the vodka bottles to start?.. love the idea.. Thanks
jmanley – I put 24 beans in each bottle of vodka. They were the big bottles of vodka. As you can see in the pictures, I used skyy, which is great, but I couldn’t watch the color of my vanilla change! Definitely try to get clear bottles or pour the vodka into a clear jar so you can tell when it’s ready.
thanks for the quick response.
Love your website:)
what type of vanilla bean did you use – does it matter?
KV – The type of bean you use will have an impact on the flavor. I used Bourbon-Madagascar beans for my vanilla.