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

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16 Responses to “Coconut Layer Cake Filled with Lemon Curd”

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    1
    Erica @ Inandaroundtown — April 6, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    WOW – I would like to have a piece of that cake as soon as possible! looks beautiful and delicious!

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    2
    FunandFearlessinBeantown — April 6, 2011 at 4:26 pm

    This cake looks beautiful and I love the addition of toasted coconut!

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    3
    Christina — April 6, 2011 at 4:32 pm

    I love love cakes with coconut. So delicious.

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    4
    Maria — April 6, 2011 at 4:33 pm

    Beautiful cake!

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    5
    DeliciousDish — April 6, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    Totally agree – the more layers the better! The cake looks stunning!

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    Paula Kelly-Bourque — April 6, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    Had I been at your dinner party you wouldn’t have had to cook anything. I would have just completely indulged in this gorgeous cake!

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    7
    Evan — April 6, 2011 at 5:29 pm

    This cake looks incredible! coconut and lemon are two of my favorite flavors; I’m glad you don’t have to choose one or the other with this recipe.

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    8
    Bianca Garcia — April 6, 2011 at 5:34 pm

    This sounds wonderful. Coconut with lemon curd, yummmm!

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    9
    Taryn — April 6, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    This looks fantastic – so springy and beautiful, and absolutely delish 🙂

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    10
    ammy 92 — April 6, 2011 at 6:28 pm

    what a wonderful cake!

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    11
    ErinsFoodFiles — April 6, 2011 at 6:30 pm

    Beautiful cake! I’ve been craving a coconut cake, but I know too many people who don’t like coconut cake that if I made it I wouldn’t have anyone to share. Boo.

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    12
    Shannon — April 6, 2011 at 8:01 pm

    ooh, fabulous. love the lemon curd-coconut combo, and in a layer cake, fun!!

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    13
    A Boston Food Diary — April 6, 2011 at 8:30 pm

    OF COURSE 4 is better than 2!!! This looks amazing….I love the idea of lemon and coconut together-and it’s gorgeous!

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    14
    Aimee — April 6, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    Love lemon curd, love coconut, especially love a cake that lets me “frost” the sides with ease. This looks so yummy!!

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    Nutmeg Nanny — April 6, 2011 at 9:31 pm

    Such a delicious cake! I honestly didn’t know a 6 inch was half of a 9 inch….thank you 🙂

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    Kelly Jaremco — April 29, 2015 at 8:39 pm

    I told my girlfriend I would bake her a cake for her birthday this Sunday !!! I got lemon curd and coconut stuck in my brain, so I started googling… which led me to your page !!! This recipie looks almost perfect !!

    Couple questions…

    Do you think the coconut extract was too strong for the cake, because you also have the browned coconut pcs too? I was considering vanilla bean cake, lemon curd and toasted coconut on the outside… but perhaps that wouldn’t be enough coconut flavour…. your thoughts?

    Lastly… what did you use as the frosting to keep the toasted coconut on? It looks like whipping cream…. ?!?!?

    Thanks !!!
    Kelly

    P.S
    This is the first cake I’ve ever baked !!! lol

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