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
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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.
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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.
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Cook steadily until you reach a rich amber-colored caramel, roughly 6-7 minutes. Be careful not to burn.
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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.
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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.
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Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute. It will rise in the pan as it boils.
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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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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! 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 🙂