Dessertlover's Classic Caramel Sauce

148 Ratings
  • 5 Rating Star 96
  • 4 Rating Star 27
  • 1 Rating Star 13
  • 2 Rating Star 6
  • 3 Rating Star 6
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This is your basic caramel sauce, nothing fancy. In my opinion, a good starter recipe to maybe change to your liking afterwards.

By Dessertlover
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Ingredients

Directions

  • Bring the water, sugar, and butter to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Do not stir the mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved in the water. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the caramel has turned golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes.

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  • Carefully pour in a slow, steady stream of cream into the caramel while stirring constantly. The hot caramel will boil vigorously when the cream is added and solidify in areas. Add the vanilla extract and salt. Continue stirring over low heat until the caramel is smooth and creamy, 5 to 10 minutes more. Allow to cool for at least half an hour before using.

Tip

Aluminum foil helps keep food moist, ensures it cooks evenly, keeps leftovers fresh, and makes clean-up easy.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:
149.83 calories; 0.4 g protein; 19.28 g carbohydrates; 8.32 g fat; 29.29 mg cholesterol; 7.42 mg sodium.Full Nutrition

Reviews (123)

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Most helpful positive review

mexican lover
07/06/2009
This is the perfect "base" recipie! I did use half brown sugar and half white sugar to give it a little bit more chew. Also I was using this caramel for a topping on my Snickers Brownies so I added about 1 cup of marshmallows at the end with the cream to give the sauce a bit of the nougat taste that I was looking for. This sauce turned out great!
Helpful
(70)

Most helpful critical review

Anonymous
03/15/2011
Against my better judgement I decided to give this recipe a try. This absolutely didn't work for me. I followed the recipe (and ingredients) exactly and ended up with a watery sugary...?....something. It couldn't be called a sauce. Maybe using brown sugar will help but as is this recipe doesn't work!! Boiled for about 20min to try and get the sugar to caramalize - didn't happen. Added the cream anyway (hoping for a miracle) and let it boil for another 20min..... Sorry - won't be using again.
Helpful
(15)
148 Ratings
  • 5 Rating Star 96
  • 4 Rating Star 27
  • 1 Rating Star 13
  • 2 Rating Star 6
  • 3 Rating Star 6
Reviews:
Most Helpful Most Positive Least Positive Newest
Anonymous
04/13/2010
The only way to get a nice dark color... is to put the sugar in a pan by itself sugar melts when heated...then browns. Then add butter then hot Boiled water & hot boiled cream...then the vanilla extract and salt.
Helpful
(137)
mexican lover
07/06/2009
This is the perfect "base" recipie! I did use half brown sugar and half white sugar to give it a little bit more chew. Also I was using this caramel for a topping on my Snickers Brownies so I added about 1 cup of marshmallows at the end with the cream to give the sauce a bit of the nougat taste that I was looking for. This sauce turned out great!
Helpful
(70)
Anonymous
11/03/2009
So delicious! I used Spiced Rum instead of water and evaporated milk instead of cream and it was delicious!
Helpful
(58)
Anonymous
01/19/2010
This is absolutely delicious! Important to do exactly as the directions indicate and DON'T stir until the sugar dissolves. I made only 1/2 of the recipe and it made about 3/4 of a cup. Easy delicious and gorgeous color!
Helpful
(28)
Heidi Kift
10/13/2009
This sauce turned out wonderfully. It seemed like a large quantity so I halved the recipe prior to making it and I still had plenty. A nice smooth texture.
Helpful
(23)
Chef W
02/24/2010
This recipe was fantastic; exactly what I was looking for to make a caramel dip for snacking on apple slices. To those who had this turn out as a thin creamy mess you must simmer the sugar until it is a rich golden brown before adding the sugar. It can't just be thick and boiling. It has to be darkening all the way through. A thick-walled saucepan is best and yes the times are probably for a gas range so plan on more time with a coil or flat top range.
Helpful
(21)
otis
03/21/2011
I needed this recipe as a base but I'm impatient. I used brown sugar instead of white and I melted the sugar with the butter until it started getting thick. I then added the cream as described and it was immediately smooth and creamy. If I had wanted it thicker I just would have used less cream. My method took me about 5 min with similar results. Hooray for a good choice of ingredients-that's 4/5 of the recipe. The one star down is because of the preparation time.
Helpful
(19)
Jog Dish
09/07/2010
Mmm this is recipe is just what I was looking for in a caramel sauce. It is a bit tricky to make though...after reading reviews I decided to add 1/4 c. brown sugar and 1/2 c. white (for a half batch of the sauce). I tried to melt the sugar first and after waiting for it to melt (or even start to melt) after about 15 minutes I added the butter to the sugar I heated up the water and half and half (which I used in place of the heavy cream) to a low boil and added this to the sugars and stirred until the sugar was dissolved. I simmered this for 10-15 more minutes then put it in the fridge to cool. I was a bit conserned that this was going to be to thin but after being in the fridge it did thicken up. I used this with the Butter Brickle Freezer Dessert Recipe making 8 servings of the sauce I had enough for the 2 layer dessert plus more to drizzle on top. Yum definetly a keeper!
Helpful
(19)
LisaW
04/30/2010
This is the best carmel sauce I have ever made!! The butter and cream make it soooo yummy. I took the advice of another user and split the sugar to half brown and half white. Outstanding!!
Helpful
(16)
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