Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe - A Spicy Perspective (2024)

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Salted Caramel Sauce – Perfect to serve over desserts and fruit, or jar for edible gifts. This caramel sauce is so easy, you’ll make it again and again!

Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe - A Spicy Perspective (1)

Pre-Made Vs. From Scratch

There are some things worth buying pre-made, and some things worth making from scratch.Salted Caramel Sauce is the latter.

Not only is it fast and easy to whip up, you have the ability to customize it to your liking…

You can make a lighter caramel sauce, or dark caramel sauce like mine. You can make salted caramel sauce really salty, or just a little salty. You can even adjust the thickness by adding more or less cream and butter.

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Homemade Caramel Sauce

This is how I like my salted caramel sauce:

  • Thin enough to pour when warm
  • Darker and richer than store-bought caramel toppings
  • With a good bit of salt

When it cools, it firms into a creamy dreamy spread you could slather on brioche bread or pound cake. Yet when it’s warm, drizzle it over fresh fall apples, ice cream, pancakes, or anything else that would benefit from a kiss of caramel.

Best yet, you can produce jars and jars of Salted Caramel Sauce as edible gifts this season, on a very small budget. If you love delivering goodies to your friends and neighbors, imagine what jars of homemade salted caramel sauce with a ribbon on top might do.

I gave a few jars of this sauce to friends last week and you would have thought I had given them a brand-new car!

So throw away your copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People and invest in sugar and cream.

You are guaranteed to be the most popular person on the block.

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Caramel Sauce Recipe Ingredients:

  • Granulated Sugar
  • Water
  • Heavy Cream
  • Butter
  • Salt
  • Vanilla Extract

How to Make Caramel Sauce

  1. In a heavier medium pot, fill with water and place on the stove over medium heat. Once it is on the heat, add in the sugar. Make sure to watch it carefully as the sugar starts to dissolve and become darker.
  2. When the sugar is at the darkness that you prefer, usually I go for a nice golden brown, remove it from the stove and heat, pour in the heavy cream while whisking it together. (The darker the caramel, the more flavorful it becomes – but be careful that it doesn’t get too dark, or it will taste burnt.)
  3. Once you have whisked in all the cream, add in the butter, salt and vanilla. Stir it all together until it becomes smooth.
  4. Serve! It is best warm. You can refrigerate it until you are ready to use it!

Get The Full (Printable) Recipe Below For How To Make Salted Caramel Sauce.

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Frequently Asked Questions:

Why is my caramel sauce not turning brown?

If your sugar syrup is not browning, it either means you added too much water, or you need to turn up the heat. If there is too much liquid in the sugar, it will not caramelize until the water has evaporated. As for the heat, all stoves are slightly different. You may find medium heat to be a little too low to caramelize the sugar. Just be careful not to turn the heat up too high, because sugar burns fast once it’s boiling.

How long will this salted caramel sauce keep?

This sauce can keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Make sure to cool the caramel sauce before putting in an airtight container. When you are ready to serve it, you can warm the sauce up slightly in the microwave or on the stovetop. If you want to make it a little thinner, you can add in a tablespoon or two of water to thin it out a little bit.

Is there a difference between caramel sauce and caramel syrup?

Yes, there is a big difference. Caramel sauce is thicker and it has a richer flavor, whereas caramel syrup is much thinner and has a more sweet taste.

Other Salted Caramel Recipes:

  • Apple Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting Recipe
  • Salted Caramel Eggnog Brownies Recipe
  • Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars Recipe
  • Bourbon Salted Caramel Candy Recipe
  • Bourbon Derby Pie with Salted Caramel Whipped Cream Recipe
  • Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart (Gluten Free) Recipe
  • Salted Caramel Cashew Blondies Recipe
  • Salted Caramel Apple Cider Recipe
  • Caramel Shortbread Recipe
  • Caramel Apple Soft Pretzel Recipe

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Salted Caramel Sauce

Prep Time: 2 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 12 minutes minutes

Luscious Salted Caramel Sauce to serve over desserts and fruit, or jar for edible gifts this fall. This caramel sauce recipe is so easy, you'll make it again and again!

Servings: 8 portions (2 cups)

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Pour the water in a medium heavy-bottom sauce pot. Place over medium heat and add the sugar. Watch closely while the sugar dissolves and darken, 5-10 minutes.

  • The moment the sugar darkens to your desired color (somewhere between golden-brown and medium brown) remove from the heat and whisk in the heavy cream. *Darker caramels are really flavorful, but don't let the sugar get too dark, or you'll have to start over.

  • Once the cream is incorporated, stir in the butter, salt and vanilla until smooth. Serve warm, or jar and refrigerate until ready to use.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 376kcal, Carbohydrates: 39g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 25g, Saturated Fat: 16g, Cholesterol: 84mg, Sodium: 383mg, Potassium: 33mg, Sugar: 38g, Vitamin A: 920IU, Vitamin C: 0.2mg, Calcium: 32mg

Course: Condiment, Dessert, Dip

Cuisine: American

Author: Sommer Collier

Making this recipe?Follow us on Instagram and tag @ASpicyPerspective so we can share what you’re cooking!

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Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe - A Spicy Perspective (2024)

FAQs

Why is my salted caramel sauce not thickening? ›

To thicken a caramel sauce, use one tablespoon of cornstarch or tapioca starch (sometimes known as tapioca flour) and one tablespoon of water per cup of caramel. Then simmer the caramel, stirring it constantly with a wooden spoon until it becomes thick.

Why is my salted caramel sauce grainy? ›

Identify the Cause: Grainy caramel sauce typically results from sugar crystallization during the cooking process.

Why add water to caramel sauce? ›

When making a wet caramel, water is added to help dissolve the sugar before cooking. Like dry caramel, you want to gently move the sugar mixture in that same side-to-side paintbrush-like fashion until the sugar dissolves.

How to prevent caramel sauce from hardening? ›

To help prevent the caramel from crystallizing, you can add an acid to the sugar before you begin: add about half a tablespoon of lemon juice to each cup of sugar and mix it with your hands; it should be the consistency of wet sand. Heat the sugar over medium-high heat until it melts.

What makes caramel more runny? ›

Caramel is a deliciously sweet sauce that can turn up the volume on any dessert it's added to. But if you're hoping to drizzle caramel over vanilla ice cream or getting ready to dip apples for a fall celebration, you need a sauce that's not too thick. To thin caramel, just add some cream or water over heat.

What to do if caramel doesn't set? ›

If caramels are too soft, that means the temperature didn't get high enough. Again place the caramel back into a sauce pan with a couple of tablespoons of water and heat to 244°F. If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can test with a cold water test. Details on how to use this method can be found here.

How to fix caramel sauce that is too hard? ›

Adding a couple tablespoons of water to grainy caramel sauce is the easiest way to make it smooth! Start by adding up to 1/4 cup in a sauce pan along with the sauce and bring to medium-low heat. Stir constantly using a silicone or rubber spoon until the crystals have dissolved and the mixture is smooth.

Should you stir sugar when making caramel? ›

Do not stir, but instead swirl and shake the pan to distribute the caramelized sugar in and around the unmelted sugar and to promote even browning. Watch it carefully to make sure it doesn't burn. The caramel is done when it's a deep amber color and all sugar lumps have dissolved.

Why is my salted caramel sauce bitter? ›

Be very careful as you heat your caramel. Follow the recipe carefully, and never melt your caramel on your stove's highest setting—it will cause the caramel to scorch and taste burnt. Once it gets a burnt or bitter flavor, it can't be saved. Luckily, sugar is inexpensive, so you can always start over!

How do you take the bitterness out of caramel sauce? ›

Try adding 1/4 cup of water to the sugar - this should stop it catching and burning. You should avoid stirring caramelising sugar because you run the risk of flicking bits of it onto the side of the pan. These isolated bits cook faster and thus burn, then drop into the rest of the sugar. Result: bitter caramel.

What technique to combat crystallization during caramel making? ›

Once crystals form, they can quickly spread. To prevent this, some caramel makers recommend using a wet pastry brush to wash down the sides of the pot. However, Fleming suggests starting with water in the pot first and then adding the sugar to prevent the sugar granules from clinging to the sides.

Why is my salted caramel runny? ›

If you're using heavy cream, note that it contains more water (less butterfat) than double cream. If your caramel sauce ends up too runny, cook it for a few minutes longer to remove some of the moisture – this will thicken it up. (And next time, try using a slightly smaller amount of heavy cream.)

How do you make caramel more liquidy? ›

Add corn syrup, honey, or lemon juice to keep the sauce thin.
  1. Use lemon juice instead if you don't mind the citrus taste. Use ½ tablespoon (7.4 mL) of lemon juice per cup (236.6 mL) of sauce. ...
  2. The lemon juice should prevent your caramel from crystallizing, but it may alter the taste of your caramel.

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