Need Caramel Sauce For The Holiday? It’s Easy To Make!

Thinking of making a dessert for the holidays with caramel sauce? Why buy it when you can make it yourself!

Caramel is one of my most favorite sweet confections. It turns ice cream into a sundae. Bananas Foster is a cinch to make at the last minute. Drizzling it on apple pie or even a piece of cake takes dessert to another level. Or if you want to be healthy, drizzle some caramel sauce on cut up fruit and forget the few extra calories.

Caramel Sauce

The following recipe makes about a cup of caramel sauce. It can be doubled if you need more.

Ingredients

• 1 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/3 c. heavy cream
• 4 T. butter

Instructions

1. In an 8″ metal (frying) pan heated on Medium heat, place the sugar, salt and cover with the water. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
2. When the mixture begins to simmer (usually after about 5 minutes depending on your stove), continue heating till the mixture turns golden to almost a copper color. Stop stirring and instead swirl the pan gently to mix because you don’t want any of the sugar crystals that form on the side of the pan to get into the mixture because it will cause the finished product to crystalize. If you stove top takes a while to heat, you can increase the heat to Medium-High, (but on my stovetop it would burn at that level). Don’t leave the stove at this point because the caramel could go from pale gold to dark brown and burnt very quickly.
3. I find it easiest to know when the caramel is ready for the next step by monitoring the temperature of the mixture. When a candy thermometer reaches 350°F, shut off the heat and move the pan to another burner. Stir in the heavy cream and the butter. Keep stirring till the mixture is fulling combined. 
4. Let the caramel sauce cool in the pan for several minutes before transferring it into a glass or ceramic container.
5. If you don’t consume the caramel in one sitting, it will last in the refrigerator for up to a month. But who can resist eating the caramel sauce out of the jar with a spoon?

Yum!

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve tonight!