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
Two Years Ago: BBQ Chicken Pizza Sticks
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. 
These are darling!
Adorable – I love the cupcake liners!
These look great! I’ve got to try them soon! ; )
How adorable! Oh The Yankee would just eat these up.
I have been wanting to try these too – nice post, I love the photos.
They look perfect! YUM!
Sooo freaking adorable! I have these liners, so I will be making these in the very near future!!! Well done!!!
Find more Fauxstess Cupcakes in my recipe blog search:
HERE
So cute and yum!
Could these be any cuter?? I love the idea of home baking classic favorites like this!
This looks perfect! Yum!
Michelle
http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/
Great job! Your cupcakes are perfect! They look just like Hostess except SO MUCH BETTER! Your ganache is so nice and shiny!
I love these cupcakes! They have been on my to try list forever and I think that maybe today might be the day I finally try them.
Also, I didn’t even realize you had less swirls, shows how well I know a hostess cupcake!
I made them this weekend and am now officially addicted to the filling – it reminds me of marshmallow creme! Although my cupcakes (and pictures) pale in comparison to your version, I need to thank you once again for supplying me with a great recipe.
I searched all over for a recipe like this and didn’t want to use marshmallow creme for the filling! These are amazing- my family was fighting over them. Thanks for sharing!
so in your recipe you say to put the batter into the wells of a muffin tin coated with non-stick spray. Does that mean not use cupcake liners, or does that mean to spray the liners with non-stick spray?
Sorry, I’ll fix the recipe. You don’t need to spray the cupcake liners.