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Last week, Jason and I went to dinner with one of our closest friends and you know that feeling you get when you know there might be more to the dinner than there really is? Like all day, I was like, “something is going to happen” or “why do I get this unsettling feeling that my world is going to come crashing down soon?” Well, not totally crash down, but you get what I mean. So, we were talking and catching up and something was said that alluded to ‘colder weather’ and then it happened. They told us they’re moving to San Francisco :'(
Such a bittersweet moment. Of course we’re thrilled for this new adventure that they’re embarking on but my selfishness gets in the way and I don’t want them to leave us! I guess on the bright side, we can always visit them in San Francisco since it’s a very easy plane ride and hello, Napa weekend! It’s definitely a hard pill to swallow when you realize your close friends are moving across the country and you can’t just randomly call them up for lunch anymore but actually have to plan months out, but nonetheless, we wish them the best of luck.
I don’t like when friends move away. Everyone that I know should just bloom where they are planted. Just kidding :) I’m just being emotional.
Okay, so homemade caramel is REALLY easy to make. Sometimes I wonder why I even run to the store to get caramel candies and melt them. Caramel sauce at home is suuuuper easy and really does taste A LOT better than store-bought. It’s got a better consistency and not to mention it’s cheaper! I’m in love with salted caramel so what better way than to make jars of homemade salted caramel sauce?
You’ll want to bookmark this recipe because several upcoming recipes use this homemade salted caramel sauce! Can you tell I was pretty much up to my eyeballs (still am) in salted caramel so I decided I’d drizzle it on everything? You can always cut down the recipe and not make as much as I did but I like having some in the fridge just for those days that you feel like your ice cream or dessert needs a bit of a sprucing!
When you make this, just know that it’s kind of weird in the beginning because everything clumps together and you’ll be like, “OMG DID I MESS UP?!” Just be patient and you’ll soon get a luscious homemade salted caramel sauce! If you don’t like salted caramel, you can either omit the salt or make this easy 3 ingredient caramel sauce instead!
Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- 12 tablespoons (168 g) unsalted butter, diced into 1-inch cubes
- 1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons of Kosher salt, please see notes
Instructions
- In a semi-deep non-stick pot, heat sugar over medium high heat, stirring often.2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- The sugar will soon start to clump together. This is ok and what it is supposed to do! (See photos above)
- The sugar will soon start to break down into a liquid and you’ll want to switch to a whisk to get rid of the clumps.
- Once the sugar is in liquid form, you’ll want to continue swirling the pot until it boils until it turns an amber color.
- Once that happens, carefully add the butter. The mixture will hiss and splatter a bit. Continue stirring until all the butter has melted.12 tablespoons (168 g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream
- Once the butter has melted, CAREFULLY add the heavy cream. Since the heavy cream will be cold, your mixture will bubble and splatter a bit as well. Stir the mixture then let boil for 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat, stir in the salt, and let completely cool before you pour it into any jars.2 teaspoons of Kosher salt
- Store in the refrigerator and warm up slightly to drizzle or use for desserts.
Notes
Nutrition
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Can I can the caramel after making pressure or hot water
I haven’t done that myself but yes, you could can this caramel.
Can you double this recipe?
Yes
Looks delicious
I live in a ‘metric’ country (The Netherlands) and I can’t get my head around the 12 tablespoons of butter cut into dice. could you give me an estimate in grams? thank you so much!
I did a quick Google search and found a butter converter: http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/butter_converter.html. According to that, it is 170.1 grams.
Regardless if metric or imperial, how do Americans measure SOLID butter in Tablespoons? Is it marked on the paper wrapping or do you have Tablespoons as a weight measure in your scales or something? In this recipe you use it diced so it’s obviously not melted to be measured as a liquid. I just don’t understand.
Yes, on our butter stick wrapping, it is labeled out by tablespoons with lines to count. See this photo here: http://www.improvevia.com/assets/~uploads/img/207/033a61b53401b417ea_large.jpg
2 tablespoons in an ounce, so 6 ounces or 3/4 cup.
How much will it make?
about 1 1/2 cups
This recipe says to cook to 350 degrees …that is past hard crack stage! Is that correct?
Hi, thanks for pointing that out. I removed that since it seems to cause confusion. Just heat it up until it boils with a lot of bubbles.
Hello, I’m a teenager who would just like to make some nice caramel slices for my family (as I’m the one that bakes in the family, but because I live in Italy I couldn’t buy many of the ingredients to make the caramel part as you need in other recipes online so I was wondering, could I use this recipe for the caramel slices? Thank you very much, loved the article!
No, the caramel sauce would need to be cooked at a higher temperature to achieve candy-like consistency.
Hello! Thank you for your fabulous recipes! I attend to give some sauces as gifts, how long will it last in the fridge as it contains cream?
It should last a while. It lasted over 2 months for me.
Is there a way to cancel this for a longer shelf life? So that it doesn’t have to be refrigerated? Or to be given as gifts?
I’m not familiar with canning but I do feel that you’d be fine if you didn’t refrigerate this. I can’t be 100% positive though.
Hi Julie.
As I commented earlier below, canning dairy products is perfectly fine. I can understand why you would not want to recommend this because this is your blog and you may not want to be liable if someone gets ill by not following the proper procedures.
Also, this recipe contains quite a bit of sugar which also helps with preserving the milk and butter. As I’m sure you know, you can buy both evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk in cans at any grocery store. In fact, it became a commercial product in the 1800’s so that people without refrigeration or easy access to fresh food such as sailors or armies could have milk for their tea or coffee.
The only caveats I would mention is that once the container is open, it then should be refrigerated, as it has now been exposed to air or whatever is on your utensils (or fingers – if you’re the sort of person who sticks a washed finger into a jar of jam or honey when you just need that little boost of sugar to get you through the next hour before dinner ;-) ) . Also, if the container lid is not popped in before the first opening such as jam or applesauce. A bulging lid is definitely a danger sign, but that’s the case with any canned food, commercial or homemade.
Thanks for this information!!
I would not try canning this item at home. I would recommend making it as close to the gift giving time as possible, refrigerating it, and then when you give/send put a little note that they need to refrigerate even before opening. I would not recommend not refrigerating.
Would this be a good recipe for the wrapped caramels at Christmas time?
No, this would not be because it wasn’t cooked to the candy caramel temperature. However! These would be perfect for wrapped caramels at Christmas time: https://www.tablefortwoblog.com/apple-cider-caramels/