Salted Caramel Sauce

This Salted Caramel Sauce with rich, decadent, and complex flavors is the best caramel sauce I have ever eaten, perfectly complimented by the flaked salt.

Why this recipe works:

I can honestly say that this is the perfect salted caramel sauce!

Is it hard to make? No. Was it hard for me to make? Yes, at first. But now that I have made it many times, you can learn from my mistakes and achieve perfection the very first time.

This caramel sauce is smooth and perfectly sweet. It is fantastic on ice cream, cakes, cookies, or just by the spoonful!

Here's how to make it:

For this recipe, you will need a sauce pan that is at least 3 quarts in volume. The mixture will bubble and boil and you don't want it spilling out over the sides of the pan.

Use small amounts of water to keep the sugar off the sides of the pan. Since the sugar melts at a much higher temperature than the water boils, any excess water will turn into steam and will evaporate.

1. Start by combining the sugar, corn syrup, and water in the pan. The mixture will resemble wet sand.
2. Set the heat to medium to dissolve the sugar. Then increase the temperature to high to get the mixture to a roaring boil. Do not stir this mixture as it cooks, but you can swirl the pot.
3. For this next step, you will have to trust your senses. You will cook the sugar mixture until it starts to turn brown in color and smell like caramel corn. You want to make sure you take the mixture far enough without letting it burn. This may take anywhere between 5-15 minutes.
4. At this point, you will slowly add the room temperature heavy cream in a steady stream while continuously whisking. Only about a minute of whisking over heat should finish the sauce.
5. Top with the flaked salt and serve warm.

Pro tips for perfect results:

• A stainless steel pan works better than a dark teflon coated pan because you'll need to see the color of the mixture.
• I do not recommend making any substitutions to this recipe. For example, one time I tried making it with brown sugar instead of granulated sugar. It burned.
• Take care not to add the cream to the sugar prematurely. If you do, the result will be more like a sweetened condensed milk than a caramel.
• Take the boiling sugar past the point where you think its done.
• The brown color of the final caramel sauce should almost looked like milk chocolate. It will taste like something you'd get at See's Candy.
• You can mix the salt in or sprinkle it on top. I prefer to sprinkle it on top at the very end.
• Use on ice cream, brownies, cheesecake, in your coffee, on sliced apples, or just eat it plain! 

Best uses for this recipe:

• I used this exact caramel sauce when I made my Salted Caramel Fresh Apple Cake
• I also used it to make my coconut macaroon Bird Nest Easter Cookies
• My Caramel Apple Pie Shot Recipe calls for some sauce
• Classic Bread Pudding with Vanilla Caramel Sauce is amazing
• Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is even better topped with this!
• Brown Butter Brownies are rich and decadent, but a carmel sauce would take them over the edge.

Did you make this recipe? Please leave me a comment below to let me know what you think!

Salted Caramel Sauce

This Salted Caramel Sauce with rich, decadent, and complex flavors is the best caramel sauce I have ever eaten, perfectly complimented by the flaked salt.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate SaveSaved!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Hover to scale: 8 servings

Chef: Krissy Allori

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons corn syrup
• ▢ ¼ cup water - approximate amount
• ▢ 1 cup heavy cream (room temperature)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt (flake salt recommended, amount completely depends on taste)

Instructions

• You want to use a medium to large sauce pot because the mixture boils pretty high. I used a 3 quart sauce pan and it worked perfectly.
• Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in pan. You want mixture to resemble wet sand. You can add more water if you wish, the process will just take longer because you basically cook the sugar until the water evaporates.
• Set the heat to medium to dissolve the sugar, then increase the heat to high to boil it. Do not stir, but you may give the pot a gentle swirl as it boils. Cook until melted sugar has turned a bit brown in color and smells like caramel corn, but do not allow it to burn. If you aren't sure because you're cooking with a dark pan, you can dip a white spatula in to see color, but just dip a little because the sugar will harden and won't drip off the spoon back into the pan. This may take 5-15 minutes.
• Once sugar is ready, very slowly pour in the room temperature heavy cream, whisking while you pour. Once all the cream has been added, cook for about a minute before removing from heat.
• This caramel sauce tastes amazing with salt, especially if you use flaked, but start slowly and add according to taste. You can also hold off on adding salt until you serve.

Notes

Recipe makes about 1.5 cups

 

Pro tips for perfect results:

• A stainless steel pan works better than a dark teflon coated pan because you'll need to see the color of the mixture.
• I do not recommend making any substitutions to this recipe. For example, one time I tried making it with brown sugar instead of granulated sugar. It burned.
• Take care not to add the cream to the sugar prematurely. If you do, the result will be more like a sweetened condensed milk than a caramel.
• Take the boiling sugar past the point where you think its done.
• The brown color of the final caramel sauce should almost looked like milk chocolate. It will taste like something you'd get at See's Candy.
• You can mix the salt in or sprinkle it on top. I prefer to sprinkle it on top at the very end.
• Use on ice cream, brownies, cheesecake, in your coffee, on sliced apples, or just eat it plain! 

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Calories: 255kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 304mg | Potassium: 22mg | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 437IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 19mg

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This recipe was originally published in March 2015 and has been updated with more information and helpful tips. Don't worry - I didn't change the recipe!