The BEST Salted Caramel Sauce

Name: The BEST Salted Caramel Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1.5 cups granulated white sugar; ½ cup water; 1 cup heavy cream; 5 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into small cubes); 1.5 teaspoon sea salt; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

By Manali Singh

5 from 1 vote

Feb 06, 2016, Updated Jan 02, 2018

The BEST Salted Caramel Sauce. Full proof recipe to get it right every single time!

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The best homemade salted caramel sauce. This is my absolute favorite fool proof recipe, with all the tips and tricks to get this right every single time!

I know I already have a salted caramel sauce recipe on the blog, BUT I felt like doing another post on this because I made this one in a different way and I had so much to share! I have been drowning in salted caramel for the last few weeks. I bought a big pack of heavy cream from Costco and I thought the best way to use it would be to make some caramel sauce. I mean it goes with everything – coffee, ice creams, you name it. After devoting considerable amount of time to this business of making salted caramel sauce, I present you with the recipe for the BEST Salted Caramel Sauce ever!

I know that’s a big claim to make but I really feel this is the best sauce I have ever tasted. Deep caramel flavor and little extra amount of salt (which I always prefer in my salted caramel) = my idea of a perfect salted caramel sauce!

There are 2 ways in which you can make a caramel sauce – the dry method, which is the one I have shared before. It does not involve any addition of water. The second method is the wet method in which we add water along with sugar. This is easier to work with, however you have to keep brushing down the sides of the pan to prevent crystallization. If you have never made caramel sauce before (and I am not talking about the quick caramel sauce here, but the real deal!) I would suggest the wet method. The dry method can become little tricky for first time. Trust me when I say this, I was left with a block of burnt caramel the first time! So I speak from experience.

I have tried to explain the whole process in great detail. But the most important thing I can say is – get all your ingredients ready before you start making the caramel sauce. It’s a quick process and while the caramelization will take some time, once it happens it will happen so quickly that you won’t have time to gather your ingredients. And the color of your sauce can go from nice dark caramel to burnt black in few seconds, so be super quick and careful and all ready to go.

So what do we need to make the best salted caramel sauce!

Ingredients – granulated white sugar, water, heavy cream, unsalted butter, vanilla extract and sea salt flakes.

Equipment – wire whisk, oven mitts, pastry brush, a kitchen thermometer (optional but recommended especially if you have never made caramel sauce before) and a heavy bottom tall pan (not in the picture).

Once you have everything ready to go, we start!

Add sugar and water in a heavy bottom pan. Make sure the pan is tall, this is because when you add cream/butter, the mixture bubbles up like crazy. So you need a pan with tall sides. Set the heat to medium-high.

The sugar will dissolve and the mixture will start boiling. Dip your pastry brush in water and keep brushing down the sides of the pan. This will prevent sugar crystallization. Some people also add lemon juice to prevent crystallization but I don’t want the lemony flavor in my salted caramel and so I don’t add it. Keep brushing the sides from time to time.

The mixture will keep boiling, do not whisk it in between or stir it. Just let it boil and keep brushing the sides to prevent crystallization. After around 13-15 minutes, the sugar will caramelize to a deep brown color at 350 F degrees. The picture isn’t that great but you get an idea. If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer, that is okay, just keep a close eye on the color. [However I do recommend getting a kitchen thermometer if you are new to this, you can depend more on your senses once you have made the sauce several times] Also, the smell gives it away, however be careful and distinguish between the smell of caramel and burnt sugar. This happens really quickly, once the mixture reaches 320 F degrees it kind of goes very quickly from there. Here’s how the color of the caramel will be at different temperatures.

light caramel at around 330-340 F degrees

dark caramel, like the one I have at 350 F degrees

very dark caramel around 360-375 F degrees, this is used as coloring agent for sauces

black jack at 400 F, which basically means sugar is now too bitter to be used. You have to throw it away!

As soon as the sugar reaches 350 F degrees, I remove the pan from heat and after 15 seconds add butter to it. The mixture is going to bubble up so wear oven mittens and whisk like crazy. Then add the cream and whisk like crazy again till it’s all smooth.

Now this is optional but I like to put the pan back on heat for a 30-45 seconds, just to kind of thicken it up. Add vanilla extract and whisk. Remove from heat, stir in the sea salt and whisk.

Let the sauce cool completely and then store in the refrigerator. The sauce will solidify in the fridge, so whenever you want to use it just take it out of the refrigerator, microwave for few seconds and it’s ready to be used in anything you like. Drizzle on top of ice creams, brownies, crepes or add to milkshakes, coffee. See it’s so versatile and that is why my favorite!

Some tips

* Once the caramel sauce has cooled down, transfer it to a jar. Now fill the pan in which you made the caramel sauce with warm soapy water and leave it for some time. After few hours, the pan will be super easy to clean, as all the caramel would have melted away.

* Always be very careful while making this sauce. Caramel will burn your skin at 350 F degrees, it has happened with me once before. Thank god it was just a finger but my whole skin came off in a second so I know this can be really bad. Always tie your hair and wear oven mitts while handling the pan. Don’t get your face too close to the pan either.

* When you re-heat the sauce, do not heat it for like 30 seconds in one go. It’s bubbles up very quickly so heat the caramel in short bursts of like 5-10 seconds. And check after every 5-10 seconds if it’s heated enough or not.

* Like I mentioned above, use a heavy bottom and tall pan. You need this! Also make sure all your ingredients are ready to go when you start making the sauce.

* Reduce the amount of salt if you don’t like your salted caramel too salty-y. Add only 1 teaspoon in that case. Please please use sea salt crystals/flakes, the regular salt can never give the same taste!

And now that you have made this gorgeous salted caramel sauce, here’s what you can do with it!

Salted Caramel Macarons

Salted Caramel Mocha

And there’s more coming on the blog soon!