Gemma’s Signature Salted Caramel Sauce
Save RecipeHi Bold Bakers!
I receive a lot of requests to share my Signature Salted Caramel Sauce, which I’m happy to do because I believe everyone deserves a great caramel sauce recipe.
This sauce is a staple in my fridge. I make it every few months and it instantly transforms any dessert you put it on. Don’t get into the habit of eating it off a spoon. That’s a slippery slope, trust me.
It goes great in ice cream, trifles, and as the finishing touch of roasted banana, or whatever your heart desires. And you can use it in some of my Big & Bold baking recipes including my Salted Caramel & Chocolate Brownie Trifle, my Secret Monkey Bread, and now my Starbucks Ultra Caramel Frappuccino.
How to Make Caramel Sauce
Making caramel sauce is easy if you follow the steps and have patience. In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the water and sugar over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture starts to bubble, then turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, you can stop stirring and watch as your mixture transforms into a beautiful amber color – taking somewhere between 8-12 minutes. Once you’ve achieved that pretty gold color, carefully and slowly whisk in the heavy cream and the mixture will bubble. Mix in the butter, one cube at a time until everything is incorporated then remove your pan from the heat.
My Favorite Uses for Caramel Sauce:
- 1 cup (8 oz/225g) granulated sugar
- around 1/4 cup (2oz / 57g) water, enough to just cover the sugar
- 6 Tablespoons (3oz/85g) unsalted butter, cut up into 6 pieces*
- ½ cup (4oz/115g) cream
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Heat granulated sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Don't let it simmer at this stage.
- Once all the sugar has dissolved bring the mix to a simmer on medium heat. Do not stir the caramel once it comes to a simmer or it can crack.
- Cook steadily until you reach a rich amber-colored caramel, roughly 6-7 minutes. Be careful not to burn.
- Once you have a rich caramel immediately add the butter. Be careful in this step because the caramel will bubble rapidly when the butter is added.
- Next, very slowly, drizzle in the heavy cream. Since the heavy cream is colder than the caramel, the mixture will rapidly bubble and/or splatter when added.
- Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute. It will rise in the pan as it boils.
- Remove from heat and stir in the salt. Allow to cool down before using.
Meet Gemma
Hi Bold Bakers! I’m Gemma Stafford, a professional chef originally from Ireland, and I’m passionate about sharing my years of experience to show you how to make game-changing baking recipes with over-the-top results! Join more than 1 Million other Bold Bakers in the community for new video recipes every week!
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Hello Gemma,
I made the sauce exactly as you described but it turned out a bit grainy, although it tastes wonderful and the colour is good. Just missing the silky texture in your pictures. What do you think might have gone wrong?
Hi Liza,
Was the sugar fully dissolved before your mix came to a simmer?? this is really important as it can make your caramel grainy.
Check out my trouble shooting caramel video
Best,
Gemma.
Hiii..I tried this recipe my sauce was too thick when it cooled down..not at all sauce consistency..can u plz help what the problem might be..
Hi Astha,
Next time feel free to add more cream, like 1/2 cup. Just so you know, when you heat it up in the microwave or in a pot it turns liquid again. This is totally normal.
Hi Gemma. Can I use salted butter and omit the salt? Thanks
Hi Eric,
Sure you can. I tend to use slated butter in everything, it is what I grew up with. It never stops me adding a touch more salt, though the good thing here is that you can taste it, and add a little more. If you drop a little on to a cold plate it will cool it sufficiently to taste it, caramel is hotter than hell!
Gemma 🙂
Thank you For getting back. Had to learn never to touch anything in the pan when on heat the hard way.
Hi Gemma,
I’m confused about how to add butter and cream in this recipe. There are three different directions on this page and they don’t agree, in my opinion.
Before the actual recipe, the directions say to “carefully and slowly whisk in the heavy cream…”, then, “Mix in the butter, one cube at a time.”
The actual recipe says, “Once you have a rich caramel, immediately add the butter…” then, “…very slowly, drizzle in the heavy cream.”
In the comments, the directions say, again, “Once you have a rich caramel, immediately add the butter.”
My questions are 1- Do I add the cream or the butter first? 2- Do I add the butter one cube at a time? 3- Can this recipe be made on a humid day?
Love your recipes and videos and have tried several of them with great results!
Hi Sally,
to answer your questions
1, Do I add the cream or the butter first? cream first, then finish with butter
2- Do I add the butter one cube at a time? yes, one cube at a time
3- Can this recipe be made on a humid day? humidity is a tough one as it does affect recipes. I’m not sure if it really would mess with a caramel. Ideally it wouldn’t be humid.
Best,
Gemma.
Will it be alright to use all purpose cream instead of heavy cream? I’m from the Philippines. Heavy cream here in our area is too much expensive.
Hi there,
You can try it! The cream which I use for most of my recipes is fresh dairy cream. This needs to be at least 35% fat content to whip well. This is from cows milk. It is a liquid product found in the chill cabinet in your store. It will spoil in a few days, even when refrigerated. It has no additives, it is just natural cream, skimmed from milk.
In some places, where there is no dairy industry, there are manufactured products, usually made with milk powders and fats. These are good for some applications, but they are not fresh cream. That is what you have here, I think it is worth a try. Make sample to test it. I am not really familiar with this particular product.
You can always try an experiment with full fat milk and a touch more butter too, though I am not sure how it will work for you, and it would have to be real butter.
I hope this is of help to you,
Gemma 🙂
Hello, will whole milk work instead of cream? Thanks! I love watching your videos❤️
Hi Kelly,
not so much. The cream tends to thicken and enrich this sauce. I think adding a little more butter with milk may resolve this, but I have not tried it. Remember real butter is dairy cream. I think you can experiment, add the milk, then a little more butter as required by the recipe, cube by cube!
Gemma 🙂
Hello is it possible to use margarine or vegetable fat instead of butter? Butter is very expensive comparatively. If I could can I skip the salt? Thank you 🙂
Hi Priya,
Yes, you can use margarine for this sauce. (https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/vegan-caramel-sauce/) here is a vegan version, this is what you need,
Gemma 🙂
Is there a dairy free alternative for the cream? My youngest has a dairy allergy and I would love to make this friendly for her.
Hi Tiffany,
how about coconut cream? That would work for this one.
allergies are a pain for little ones, so nice to find solutions for him, well done,
Gemma 🙂
I use coconut cream for other things… it does work well. I’ll try it! Thanks! BTW, my kids and I watch all your videos on FB and try the ones that are super simple. They are huge Fans!
Hi Tiffany,
Thank you, and say hi to the kids for me. It is good to have all of you here with us,
Gemma 🙂
I have followed your recipe for caramel sauce and twice it didn’t turn out. I did everything as in your recipe, I don’t know what I’ve done wrong. First time I think I may have had the heat to high because it had a bitter taste and the second one would never darken. It’s almost a light yellow colour. Help!
Hi Susan,
The first one sounds exactly as you say, cooked too fast, and too high a temperature, which would burn the sugar.
The second one then was not taken far enough, you can get that back on the stove and carry on, it should resolve. Get it simmering, see the gentle bubbles, but not mad bubbles, I think this will tell you and then you will never get it wrong again.
I hope this is of help,
Gemma 🙂
Hi Gemma,
Can this recipe be made into a caramel candy? Like, you put it into a dish for it to become kind of mold. But it can’t be a mold, right? It’s a sauce after all.. Haha I guess not.😀 But would you make a caramel candy recipe for me? I’ve found one but I wanted the recipe especially from you because you always make it seem easy..! 😂
Thanks a lot!
Hi there,
You are right about this one, it would not become solid enough to be a candy. (https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/salted-pumpkin-caramels/) this recipe would do what you want, you can add what you want in terms of fruit/nuts etc.
I hope you like this recipe,
Gemma 🙂
Thanks Gemma! Always a fan of you!
Thank you Stankovic, I appreciate your kind support,
Gemma 🙂
How do you store this sauce? Does it have to be refrigerated? Do i need to reheat it everytime i want some of it in a recipe? Does it need to be brought to room temperature to use it?
Hi Jacqueline,
yes to all questions.
As a homemade sauce it will need to be slightly warmed to pour. A few seconds in a microwave will do it, or warm room temperature for about 30 mins.
Store in the fridge for best results,
Gemma 🙂
Hi Gemma, How long can it last in the fridge?
Racheal, it depends on who knows it is there!
Seriously though it will last about 4 – 6 weeks, depending on the storage container.
I hope you will like this recipe,
Gemma 🙂
Oh yes….. Will try it out soon…. Thank you
Hi! Tried making this but it turns out lumpy & bitter, do you know what might cause these problems during the cooking process?
Hi there,
At a guess I would say too high a temperature! This is a process and the steps are important.
Here are the directions and they are important to success with a caramel.
Heat granulated sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Don’t let it simmer at this stage.
Once all the sugar has dissolved bring the mix to a simmer on medium heat. Do not stir the caramel once it comes to a simmer or it can crack.
Cook steadily until you reach a rich amber-colored caramel, roughly 6-7 minutes. Be careful not to burn.
Once you have a rich caramel immediately add the butter. Be careful in this step because the caramel will bubble rapidly when the butter is added.
try again, you will get it right,
Gemma 🙂
Hi Ms. Gemma,
Great recipe for caramel sauce! 🙂
May I request for a caramel cake recipe?
Thank you and looking forward for it. 🙂
Thank you for this nice idea Flordelyn, I will add it to my list,
Gemma 🙂
Hello Gemma, nice recipe, but is it ok if I use brown sugar instead of white?
Hi Mark,
Not for this recipe. Butterscotch sauce is where you use brown sugar, not a caramel sauce. Here’s a recipe
Best,
Gemma.
Hi Gemma
Can heavy whipping cream be used in this, or what kind of cream exactly?
Michael
Hi Michael,
For this recipe any type of cream can be used as it doesn’t need to be whipped. So you can use heavy whipping if thats what you have access to.
Best,
Gemma.
Great recipe! And for anyone decent in recipe division, if you make 2/3 of the recipe, it fits perfectly into a Ball half-pint jar. (For storage or gift-giving purposes.) 🙂
Hi Nicole,
Thank you for that great suggestion, and for your kind review of this recipe too, good to have you here with us,
Gemma 🙂