Salted Caramel Sauce

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

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.

One Year Ago: Crunchy Nut Encrusted Chicken Tenders
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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

Better than Store Bought, Condiments, Dessert, Gift Ideas, Other

4 comments »

8 Responses to “Margarita Cupcakes”

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Megan — March 28, 2011 at 5:11 pm

These sound great! I am bookmarking them to make for a bachelorette party this summer!
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Nutmeg Nanny — March 30, 2011 at 4:32 pm

Holy deliciousness! I honestly think I would prefer a margarita cupcake over an actual margarita…haha. I’m a more a gin girl 🙂
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3

beantownbaker — March 30, 2011 at 5:14 pm

I looked for little umbrellas and couldn’t find them. That would have been even cuter!
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4

beantownbaker — March 30, 2011 at 5:15 pm

Oh great idea!
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5

beantownbaker — March 30, 2011 at 5:15 pm

I’m not sure how they’d hold up like you mentioned… Next time I’m definitely going to do a sugar rim on the frosting like Chris suggested.
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beantownbaker — March 30, 2011 at 5:16 pm

I’m a gin girl as well, but there’s something about a margarita after a long day at work. There’s a place here that has a coconut/lime margarita. It’s amazing.
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Chris at HyeThymeCafe — March 30, 2011 at 5:30 pm

I think I found them – and straws with umbrellas – at a Dollar Tree a few years back. Not sure if that’s a regular seasonal item or just something random I happened to catch.
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beantownbaker — March 30, 2011 at 5:32 pm

I’ll have to keep a watch out for those. They sound really cute. And if I see something, I’ll have to grab it and just make these cupcakes again.

Salted Caramel Sauce