Caramel Sauce

In this instructable I will show you how to make caramel. This homemade caramel sauce recipe is easy to make using few ingredients. I love caramel, it is so yummy on ice cream, on cakes, in cookies, surrounded by chocolate, as a salad dressing (jk or am I?). Making caramel at home is awesome, but you do need to be careful when the sugar melts it is super duper hot! If I can do it, you can do it, let's get started!

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Follow the easy steps below or watch the short video tutorial or do both. :)

Step 1: Ingredients/Tools

You may print the recipe here if you like.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white granulated sugar (200g)
• 1/4 cup filtered water (60ml) (the water doesn't have to be exact)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (120ml)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (5ml)
• 6 tbsp. of butter (85g)

Tools:

• Heavy bottom sauce pot with high walls
• wooden spoon
• basting brush

Step 2: Water and Sugar

Start by adding your water and sugar to a heavy bottom sauce pot. A heavy bottom sauce pot is ideal because it distributes the heat better, but you can get away without using one. Nonstick pots don't work as well though.

Step 3: Vanilla and Cream

Now mix together your vanilla extract and cream. Then take the pot, cream and butter over to the stovetop.

Step 4: Patience Is a Virtue

Now with the heat set to medium low to medium, place the pot on the burner and don't touch it, don't stir it, don't mess with it. Let the sugar crystals melt. You may see some sugar crystals forming on the walls above the melting sugar. Use a basting brush dipped in water and gently brush those and allow them to fall in the mixture. After several minutes the sugar will start to turn colors, blonde, then light brown then amber. At this point you can swirl your pot a bit to allow the color to spread, but it isn't necessary. Wait until you have a nice deep amber color. Then take the pot off the burner and turn off the heat.

Step 5: Stir Stir Stir

Next we stir in the cream a little at a time, until all incorporated, stir fast. The caramel will react violently to it. Be careful, it is super duper hot, and if it splashes up on you it will stick to you skin. So if you are worried wear gloves. Generally a really tall pot is fine though. Then stir in all the butter until it is all melted. The caramel is done. Now let it cool for awhile. You can transfer it to another bowl to cool faster if you like. As it cools it will get thicker.

Step 6: Caramel Sauce

Mmmm the caramel sauce is complete. You can store it in the fridge covered, for about a month. :) Use it on whatever you want. Enjoy! :)

Step 7: Video Tutorial

Now watch those steps in action with this video tutorial. :)

Comments

[mcorbin]

Looks wonderful. When I was a child my grandma would make caramels - a somewhat more complicated recipe than this one - cooked longer to 'firm ball' stage. She poured it into a sheet pan over a layer of toasted walnuts and when it was cool we cut it into bite size pieces and wrapped them in waxed paper. Yum. I make it at Halloween and do caramel apples. I little tricky to get the right consistency - too soft and it all pools at the bottom of the apple. Too hard and it will pull your fillings out! There is just no substitute for real caramel.
I am going to try your recipe. I like the simplicity of it.

[In The Kitchen With Matt]

Thanks! Yeah making the actual caramel candy is a bit different using pretty close to the same ingredients. :) I will wind up showing how to make those at some point as well. You are so right! No substitute for real caramel! :) Let me know how it goes once you try it out. :)

[CindyE47]

Any printable recipe and instructions?

[In The Kitchen With Matt]

Hello Cindy, I haven't gotten my website up and running yet. If you are a premium member, you can download pdf versions of each instructable.

[Penolopy Bulnick]

Looks creamy and delicious! I've always wanted to make caramel but I'm nervous about the sugar water stage and that I would just touch it too much and wreak it :P

[In The Kitchen With Matt]

Thank you!! :) Yeah the tendency is definitely to want to stir it. But nope, just let it sit there hahaha. :)