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.
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
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 just love blueberries and your bars look simply incredible!!
These bars are so awesome!! Gorgeous!
holy cow these look fabulous! i need more blueberries in my life, and quick- i’m already onto peaches so hoping i didn’t miss out 🙂
These pie bars look amazing! I`m wishing I had blueberries right now!
I love pie bars!! They look so delicious 🙂 I am loving this recipe!
Yum these are gorgeous. Love the changes you made.
Tried it, tasted awesome! Thanks for the recipe!!
beantownbaker — September 26th, 2013 @ 8:47 am
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Made these and my family ate them in one day! Thanks for the great recipe!!
beantownbaker — October 6th, 2013 @ 8:11 pm
So glad you enjoyed these. I have made them a couple times with different fruits and they’re always a hit.
Made these this past weekend using blueberries and blackberries in equal parts. I love the ease of the crumb crust and top. The only thing I will change when I make them again will be to add lemon juice and zest to the filling. I like the tartness of lemon with blueberries. Will make these with peaches when they are in season. Easy and tasty…thanks!
beantownbaker — April 27th, 2014 @ 2:47 pm
I’ve made these with peaches and they’re delicious – definitely do that this summer.
Tried these today because I needed to clear out some frozen blueberries. Used a small rectangle Pyrex dish instead, which worked fine. Added a bit of fresh grated nutmeg. Cut into 12 squares and served with ice cream. This is a keeper!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:25 pm
Love fresh nutmeg! Sounds great.