Salted caramel is an absolutely delicious addition to any baking or sweet dessert! It is a great filling for cookies and macarons, on ice cream or even on its own!

This recipe is very straight forward and can be made well in advanced and stored in the fridge until needed. It can be served cold or warm!

Step 1: Ingredients

- 250g caster sugar

- 70mL water

- 1/2-1tsp salt

- 200g cold cubed butter

- 120mL thickened cream (36% fat content this is important for a nice thick caramel)

- 1tsp vanilla bean paste

Step 2: Equipment

- 1 Small saucepan

- Mixing spoons

- Candy thermometer

- Whisk

- Glass container for storage

Step 3: Make Sugar Syrup

Place the caster sugar and water in a small saucepan and cook the syrup on a medium high heat until the syrup turns a light yellow colour. (This should take 5-8 minutes).

Now carefully watch the syrup until it turns a golden amber colour because this will change very suddenly and if not watched it may burn (be careful!)

Step 4: Add Thickened Cream and Heat

Once the syrup is an amber colour remove from the heat and add the thickened cream and stir in with a whisk. Be very careful when whisking this as there will be a lot of steam coming out of the pot.

When the cream is mixed in place the pot back onto a high heat and allow the caramel to come up to 108 degrees Celcius while stirring (use a candy thermometer to read the temperature). Then remove the pot from the heat and allow it to cool until the caramel stops bubbling. Then add the vanilla bean paste and salt (the amount of salt depends on how salty you like your salted caramel).

When the caramel has thickened (stir for about 1 minute) then add the cold cubed butter and continue to whisk the caramel together. (If the mixture splits then you have added the butter when the caramel is too hot.)