Making the perfect caramel sauce at home is so satisfying and rewarding. This quick and tangible recipe will have you putting in on everything!
ingredients & Equipment Needed For This Recipe
Ingredients:
- Granulated Sugar
- Water
- Light Corn Syrup– My go to brand is Karo®
- Heavy Cream
- Unsalted Butter
- Kosher Salt
Equipment:
- Set of Measuring Spoons & Cups OR Digital Kitchen Scale if using metric
- Medium Pot– For cooking the caramel.
- Whisk- To incorporate the heavy cream and butter into the cooked sugar
- Small Strainer– I always strain my caramel just as a pre-caution so that there are no surprise lumps of sugar in my caramel later.
- Container For Storage– This can be anywhere from Tupperware to a glass jar (my preferred method of storage).
My Kinda Professional Tips for Making the Perfect Caramel Sauce
- Make sure to that the sugar that you’re using is clean. Now I know that sounds strange but any sort of non-sugar item (specks of flour, dirt, etc.) can make your caramel lumpy and therefore more likely to crystalize. You can either sift your sugar or take it from a new bag to ensure that it is clean.
- HYDRATE YOUR SUGAR COMPLETELY BEFORE ADDING TO HEAT AND DO NOT TOUCH AGAIN! I cannot stress this enough, agitation (stirring) while heating the sugar molecules will start to stick together so the more you mess, the more likely you’ll get lumps. If the sugar doesn’t seem like it’s hydrated enough, you can add a tsp of water at a time until it’s fully hydrated, but this recipe should be spot on!
- When the caramel has reached 255-260° F and you are about to add the heavy cream, add in a small amount (about 1/4 C) and do not stir for 30 seconds, instead gently move the pour back and forth to help disperse the heavy cream. Once most of the steam has evaporated you can whisk in the remaining heavy cream and butter. This also prevents steam burns from trying to whisk in the heavy cream. I’ve learned this the hard way and that’s why I’m passing some wisdom to ya’ll.
- Strain the finished caramel into your container. This can be done with a regular fine mesh strainer. I do this so that there are not lumps in the caramel that could have developed while cooking (even though you didn’t stir it right?).
The Perfect Caramel Sauce
Making the perfect caramel sauce at home is so satisfying and rewarding. This quick and tangible recipe will have you putting in on everything!
Equipment
- Set of Measuring Cups & Spoons OR Digital Kitchen Scale if using metric
- Medium Pot
- Whisk
- Small Strainer
- Storage Contianer
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar (350 g)
- 1/4 Cup Water (60 ml)
- 1/4 Cup Light Corn Syrup (75 ml)
- 1 Cup Heavy Cream (275 ml)
- 2 Tbl Un Salted Butter (60 g)
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
Instructions
- Place corn syrup THEN sugar on top in a medium pot. Add the water and make sure that the sugar is completely hydrated before turning on the heat to medium-high.
- Brush sides of your pot with pastry brush and water until rim is wet so that you can reduce crystallization. This is point where you DO NOT TOUCH IT AGAIN UNTIL IT’S DONE!
- While sugar is cooking measure and butter and heavy cream and salt separately.
- Continue to cook until the sugar is about 255-260° F or a deep honey color.
- Once desired color achieved, take off the heat and add a small amount heavy cream and let sit for 30 seconds without whisking, only Add in remaining cream and slowly whisk until smooth. Next add butter and whisk until incorporated, and then add salt to finish.
- Strain into preferred container, (I like glass jars) and let sit until cool to touch. Place lid on top and keep at room temperature for up to 3 months.
Notes
1 Serving= 2 Tbl
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Rach— help a notatallprofessionalbaker here. It says to strain the caramel sauce into containers? What do I strain it with? A colander? Also… why strain it? Can I pour it? Help a woman out! ❤️ Miss your face!
Ps grandma bettys brownies are cooking in my oven as we speak 😘
So, the caramel can be strained with a regular strainer. This is done so that there are no lumps of sugar that could have developed while cooking even though you didn’t stir it. Smooth caramel is better than lumpy caramel!
I miss you too, and you’re family is so adorable! And aw that makes me so happy! They are SO good!
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an very long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Regardless, just wanted to say excellent blog!