Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe

5 from 6 votes

In less than 15 minutes, you can make this pot of gold...sweet, salty and buttery; this salted caramel sauce is the definition of indulgence!

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Course: Sauces

Cuisine: American

Servings: batch = 240ml (1 cup)

Calories: 1911kcal

Author: Emma Duckworth

Equipment

Ingredients

200 g granulated sugar
80 g unsalted butter room temperature, cubed
160 ml double cream (heavy cream) room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2 teaspoon flaked sea salt to taste

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Heat the sugar until it melts. In a high-sided non-stick saucepan, heat the sugar over low heat, stirring often. It will go lumpy, but slowly those lumps will melt away into a liquid that will slowly turn golden. Once the sugar is in liquid form, stop stirring and swirl the liquid sugar while the colour changes to a lovely amber colour. Keep an eagle eye on it at this stage, as it can turn to burnt sugar very quickly.
If the liquid is turning amber, but there are still lumps of sugar, then take the pan off the heat and keep swirling the liquid to give a chance for those lumps to melt.
Add the butter. Carefully add the butter in one go. It will bubble up but whisk continuously until it has thoroughly melted. Then remove from the heat.
Add the cream. Pour in the cream, but be careful as it will bubble up again, but keep whisking, and the bubbling will die down. Please return it to medium-low heat, occasionally stirring, so that the caramel can thicken. This takes around 5 minutes.
Add the flavourings. Remove from the heat, stir in vanilla extract and salt (to taste), and mix thoroughly to combine. Pour into a bowl and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
Serve warm or pour into a jar or air-tight container to store.

Notes

Step-by-Step Photos: My blog post includes helpful step-by-step photos to help guide you through making this recipe.

Nutritional Values: These are shown for the 1 batch in total (240ml/1 cup)

To store: Store the sauce in a sterilised jar or air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to a month. It will harden as it cools. When ready to use, pop in the microwave and warm gently to turn it back into liquid form

To freeze: Place in a freezer-safe, airtight container and freeze for up to three months. To thaw, place in refrigerator overnight and warm before serving.

Batch cook: I wouldn’t double or triple the recipe to make large quantities. The sugar may not melt evenly if you put a large amount in the saucepan. I suggest making the batches separately.

Tip 1: Prep your ingredients and utensils before starting. This will make the process run more smoothly.

Tip 2: Use a large saucepan. When you add the butter or cream to the melted sugar it bubbles up quite vigorously, and a larger pan than you think you’ll need will avoid any coming up over the lip of the saucepan.

Tip 3: Use room temperature ingredients. When hitting the liquid sugar, your caramel sauce will most likely split if the butter and cream are too cold.

Nutrition