Perfect salted caramel, grandma’s original recipe for a flawless salted caramel! Salted caramel is a sauce widely used in pastry and its sweet-and-salty contrast makes it ideal to enrich and decorate many treats, like Salted Caramel Ice Cream. The flavor is similar to the famous cream candies we loved as kids and its aroma of butter and caramelized sugar is so irresistible that once made it is hard to resist the temptation to eat it all. To make homemade salted caramel you only need a few minutes and a few easy-to-find ingredients like sugar, butter, cream, and salt, and with a little attention the result is practically guaranteed: a smooth, velvety cream in which a few grains of salt, contrasting the sugar, create a truly unique mix of flavors and aromas. And if you don’t have cream, you can always prepare the Caramel Sauce without cream and the result will be equally good! Let’s head to the kitchen now and find out how to make the perfect salted caramel sauce, but first I remind you that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes, my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients to make salted caramel
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 9 tbsp butter (about 4.6 oz (130 g); or replace regular butter with salted butter.)
- 7 fl oz heavy cream (liquid) (about 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp (200 g))
- 1 3/4 tsp salt (or replace regular butter with salted butter.)
Tools
- Saucepan
- Whisk
Steps
Pour the sugar into a heavy-bottomed pan and, stirring now and then, let the sugar melt over low heat. Be careful not to burn it, as burned sugar will taste bitter. At this stage you’ll already have the classic caramel with its amber color, which will harden and become solid as it cools.
Stirring constantly, now add the butter and the salt, and once melted add the very hot (but not boiling) cream. Continue cooking the sauce for 5–6 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk or spatula, and when it begins to boil vigorously transfer the sauce to a bowl. (To check the consistency of the sauce before turning off the heat, drop a little onto a plate and once cooled evaluate whether to cook a few more minutes).
Let it cool, stirring often, and our salted caramel sauce is ready to be enjoyed or used.
Storage and tips
The caramel sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a month. For long-term preservation, even for months, proceed as you would for a regular jam or marmalade, sterilizing the jars both before filling and after, creating a vacuum seal.
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