Sweet Caramel Butter Sauce – a Quick and Easy Recipe
Caramel butter sauce is the perfect topping for pancakes, ice cream, waffles, cakes and much more. Sure, you can buy it at the store, but you know now that homemade always tastes better and you can control the ingredients added! For this recipe you likely have all ingredients already in your pantry so it will also save you the drive to the shop.
Is a Candy Thermometer Necessary?
If you have a food thermometer, you can use it, but you can do without. The temperature should be maximum 180°C (350°F). Increased temperatures will burn the caramel and leave a bitter taste. If you go below 170°C (338°F) you won’t achieve the caramelisation and colour. Don’t panic though, if you follow our recipe exactly, without changing anything, you can make this sauce with the use of a good nose and a pair of open eyes.
Important recipe tips to make sweet caramel butter sauce!
- Your choice of tools and utensils is important. Use a heavy-duty saucepan and a wooden spoon or a heat-resistant silicone spoon.
- Weigh your ingredients correctly to keep a good balance.
- Don’t stir constantly! The sugar will dilute in the water through the heating process. If you stir, you might cause grains to form. Gently swirling the pan over the heat, without overdoing it, is a better option if needed.
- The sauce might crystallise. This can be fixed easily by adding a little water and bringing the sugar back to the boil. Keep temperature low during this process. Once the crystals have dissolved, you can move forward to get colour and caramelisation.
- Always use unsalted, high-quality butter, even for salted caramel sauce. Adding salt to the caramel in the end makes it easier to control the saltiness of the finished product.
- Always stay with your pan and keep your eyes on the caramel when making this recipe. It only takes 15 minutes of patience and attention to prepare a perfect caramel.
- Caramel butter sauce can be stored for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator. Gently rewarm the sauce in the microwave when needed.
Sweet Caramel Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- 100 gr light brown sugar
- 30 ml water
- 180 ml cream
- ¼ tsp vanilla powder optional
- 35 gr cold unsalted butter dices
Instructions
- Dilute the light brown sugar in the water over medium heat.
- Bring to a boil and cook the sugar to a caramel.
- Pour the cream into the caramel and stir. The caramel may crystallise around the edges and on the bottom of the saucepan but will dissolve after a few minutes of cooking.
- Add the vanilla powder and cook further for 5 minutes.Whisk the cold butter parcels to the caramel sauce.
- Transfer into a glass jar and cool.
Notes
- Add a splash of Whiskey, Bourbon or Cognac.
- If vanilla powder is not available it can be substituted by essence.