Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce is in a glass measuring jug with a spoon next to it. It's in deep amber color and very silky smooth consistency. A cup of vanilla ice cream crowned with this caramel sauce is served on the side and the rest of the whiskey is in its green O'Driscolls bottle.

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Hi Bold Bakers!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: This Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce Recipe gives you a luscious deep, dark caramel topping elevated by the kick of Irish spirit. If you’re looking for an ice cream syrup with the ideal level of sweetness and a little scrumptious sophistication, you’ll adore this caramel sauce. It’s perfect for an adult ice cream sundae, or a dreamy finishing touch for cakes, pies, or puddings.

I’m proud to say there’s a connection to the much-loved O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey used in this apple crisp recipe and in this lovely O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey Cake. My cousin, Michael J. Stafford is the managing director of Stafford Bonded in my hometown of Wexford, Ireland. Michael carried on the family business created by our grandfather (James Stafford) and also our fathers (George Stafford Snr and Michael Stafford Snr). Michael has chronicled the history of the Stafford family in Wexford beautifully on the Stafford Bonded website. O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey is inspired by Diarmuid O’Driscoll, Michael’s other grandfather, a true inspiration and a great storyteller who recently passed away at 104. You will understand the inspiration when you hear Diarmuid talk of the O’Driscoll family.

What is Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce?
Tools You Need to Make Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce
Key Ingredients and Why
How to Make Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce
Can I Make Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce in Advance?
How to Store Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce
FAQs
Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips
More Topping Recipes

What is Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce?

Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce is a sweet topping typically made by cooking sugar until it caramelizes, then adding a mixture of cream, butter, and Irish whiskey to create a smooth, sweet, and slightly boozy sauce.
In the 1800s caramel sauce grew in popularity because sugar became more affordable. Although caramel sauce is now available in grocery stores, Bold Bakers have told me they far prefer homemade and love new, delicious twists for their caramel sauce. Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce has an amazing, unique flavor you’ll adore.

Tools You Need to Make Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce

Key Ingredients and Why

O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey
- O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey balances out the sweetness and adds a warm, smokey, note to the sauce.
- What’s more, Irish whiskey is famous for having a smoother flavor than bourbon or Scotch whiskey.
- Not only does whiskey add its special distinctive flavor to this baked custard recipe, but it also elevates these other luscious dessert recipes: O’Driscoll’s Irish Whiskey Cake Recipe, Homemade Irish Cream with O’Driscoll’s Whiskey, O’Driscoll’s Irish Whiskey Chocolate Mousse Recipe, Sweet and Boozy Peach Whiskey Jam Recipe, and No-Churn Irish Cream Ice Cream.
Granulated Sugar
- Caramelized sugar is the base of this sauce. As sugar caramelizes, its flavor changes from sharply sugary-sweet to a deeper, more intense sweetness like butterscotch or toffee.
- As sugar caramelizes, it transforms from a white solid to an amber-colored syrup.
- Sugar and water are simmered to make caramel. Check out my post about How to Make Caramel for detailed pro tips.
Heavy Cream
- Heavy whipping cream or heavy cream is just natural FRESH CREAM skimmed from milk, with a fat content of around 36% to be able to whip up well. Heavy cream’s high-fat content contributes to caramel’s velvety texture, enhances flavor complexity, and stabilizes caramel without curdling.
- Heavy cream enriches the sauce.
- Regular or light cream will not work in this recipe due to its low-fat content.
Butter
- Butter enriches the sauce to give it a creamy consistency and adds a pleasantly savory note.
- Butter helps bind the sauce, giving it a uniform silkiness and preventing graininess.

Salt

Salt adds an essential briny note, keeping the sauce from being overly sweet.

How to Make Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce

Simmer the whiskey over high heat until it is reduced to 1/2 cup (4 fl oz/120 ml). Remove from heat and cool.
Cook the caramel:
- Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved.
- Make sure to let sugar COMPLETELY dissolve first before bringing it to a simmer. Otherwise, the sugar tends to crystallize.
- Raise the heat to medium-high and without stirring, let the mixture simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Note: Once the sugar comes to a simmer NO MORE STIRRING. Cook until it reaches a deep amber color.
- Remove from heat and pour in the heavy cream and salt, CONSTANTLY WHISK until all the cream is incorporated.
- Return to medium heat and stir in butter. Cook for one minute.
- Remove from heat and stir in whiskey and salt.

Can I Make Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce in Advance?

Yes. Let the cooked sauce cool for 30 minutes, transfer it into a lidded jar, and store it in the fridge.
When you’re ready to use, warm it up on the stove or in the microwave.

How to Store Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce

Yes, you can store the Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce. The sauce keeps in the refrigerator for three months.

FAQs

Why does the caramel mixture have to reach a deep amber color before adding cream?
- In short, a deep amber color is a telltale sign of sugar melting properly to turn into liquid sugar to form a smooth (not grainy) caramel.
- When sugar only dissolves, these whole sucrose molecules separate from one another. The molecule itself doesn’t come apart. Granulated sugar is still granulated sugar floating in a sugar-water solution. So when it cools, sugar granules are still there and the caramel turns grainy.
- When sugar is heated to a certain point at which sugar resembles a deep amber color, its molecules start to break down. As the heat continues, different types of compounds start producing liquid sugar. So when it cools it will then reach a softer and stickier liquid-sugar texture.
My caramel crystalized–what happened?
- For the same reasons as outlined above. Caramel crystallizes due to uneven heat from a thin-bottomed saucepan, dramatic temperature change, raising the heat too early, improper stirring, lack of stirring, and lack of cooking time.
- Be sure to read through my article on How To Make Caramel to make perfect caramel sauce every time!
Why did my sugar and butter separate?
- Make sure you use a heavy-bottom saucepan. A thin bottom pan has “hot spots” and heats up unevenly which causes the butter to heat up too fast and separate from the sugar.
- If the temperature changes dramatically, butter will separate from sugar. Keep it at a constant heat (medium) after all the sugar has dissolved.
- Stir UNTIL all the sugar has dissolved, and bring it to a simmer at medium heat. If undissolved sugar gets crystallized around the caramel on the sides of the pot which during the simmering may fall back into the caramel and that can crystalize your caramel further.
- To avoid this: Use a pastry brush dipped in water, and wash down/dissolve the sugar crystals that collect on the side because this will stop them from building up around the edge of the caramel.
- When butter or cream or both are required in a recipe, make sure both are at least room temperature or slightly warmer. Otherwise, the cold ingredients will cause the caramel to seize.
- Once it reaches a rich amber color, immediately stream in cream and CONSTANTLY WHISK until all the cream is incorporated
- Once you incorporate all of the cream, slowly drop in the butter and whisk until all the butter is completely incorporated.

Can I substitute the cream in this recipe?

It depends! Based on which kind of dairy you use for this recipe, you will get different results.

- Heavy cream (fresh cream or double cream) will give the best results for this sauce because of the high 49.4% fat content. The higher the fat content, the richer and creamier your sauce will be. Generally, anything above 35% fat content will work in this recipe.
- You can also try all-purpose cream. The main difference between using heavy cream and all-purpose cream is the percentage of fat content. All-purpose cream contains 30% fat, which makes it lighter and more difficult to whip than heavy cream.
- If you choose to use any milk alternative such as reduced-fat milk, whole milk, low-fat milk, or full-fat milk, your sauce will not turn out as rich. The water content of the milk will affect the viscosity and may thin your sauce down.
Do you have a vegan version of Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce?
- See my Vegan Caramel Sauce recipe for a delicious, easy, dairy-free topping.
- Reduce the whiskey as directed for Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce, and when you get to the cooling step of the vegan recipe, whisk in the reduced whiskey.

Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips

You can reduce the whiskey in the microwave in a glass measuring cup—this makes measuring the reduced amount easy to see. Microwaves vary in power so just keep an eye on it and microwave a few minutes at a time.
When making the caramel, don’t let the water boil until all of the sugar has dissolved, or it may crystalize.
Once the sugar has dissolved and you bring the mixture to a boil, it is equally important to stop stirring, or again, the sugar might crystallize.
When adding cream to the hot sugar, it will bubble up a lot—take care to avoid steam burns. Pour it in a little at a time so your mixture doesn’t bubble over.
To use, warm the sauce up again on the stove or in the microwave.
Drizzle this wonderful sauce over ice cream, chocolate pudding pie, bread pudding, pavlova, even waffles and pancakes!

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