This homemade caramel sauce is made with just sugar, butter and heavy cream, plus vanilla and a pinch of salt if you want salted caramel. It takes about 15 minutes in one pan and makes about 1 1/2 cups.
The one thing to get right before you start: take the cream out of the fridge first. Room temperature cream blends straight into the hot sugar. Cold cream can seize it.
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- 1 cup granulated sugar: the caramel itself
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed: body and a rounder, buttery taste
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature: turns hard caramel into a pourable sauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon salt: both optional; the salt makes it salted caramel sauce
I have tried half-and-half in place of cream. It works, but the sauce comes out thinner and less rich, so I stay with heavy cream. Use a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan that looks too big for one cup of sugar. The sauce bubbles up hard when the butter and cream go in, and a thick base spreads the heat so the sugar does not scorch in one spot.
Melting the Sugar Without Burning It
Spread the sugar in an even layer and set the pan over medium heat. Stir constantly with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon. First the sugar clumps into sandy lumps. That looks wrong, and it is normal. Keep stirring and the lumps melt into a thick liquid.
Stay at the stove. I once walked away for a moment and came back to a stubborn hard lump. You are done when every lump has melted and the color is a deep amber, like an old copper penny, with a nutty smell. If a few lumps refuse to melt, lower the heat and keep stirring rather than turning it up. Burned sugar smells sharp and tastes bitter, and there is no saving it.
Adding the Butter and Room Temperature Cream
Add the butter cubes all at once. The caramel will bubble up fast, so keep your hand back and stir until the butter has melted in completely.
Then pour in the cream slowly while you stir. It hisses and rises again, then settles into a smooth sauce. I compared cold and room temperature cream in my notes, and cold cream is what makes the caramel seize into hard bits. Twenty minutes on the counter is enough. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla and salt.
Thick or Pourable: Adjusting the Sauce
Hot caramel sauce looks thin. Judge it after it cools: it thickens a lot at room temperature and turns spoonable in the fridge. For a thicker caramel sauce, let it simmer 1 to 2 minutes longer after the cream goes in. For a thinner drizzle, stir in another tablespoon or two of warm cream.
Sugar and Cream Caramel or Condensed Milk Caramel?
This recipe is classic caramel: melted sugar, butter and cream, done in 15 minutes, with a slightly bitter-sweet, buttery taste. It is the one to make without condensed milk. Caramel sauce from condensed milk is a different thing: the can simmers for 2 to 3 hours and turns into a thick, milky dulce de leche. Pick this one for drizzling and pouring, that one for a thick spread or banoffee.
When the Caramel Seizes, Splits or Turns Grainy
- Hard lump after adding cream: the cream was cold. Put the pan back on low heat and stir until the lump melts again.
- Greasy layer on top: the butter split out, usually from too much heat. Take the pan off the heat and whisk hard with 1 to 2 tablespoons of warm cream until it comes back together.
- Grainy in the jar: sugar crystals formed as it sat. Warm it gently with a splash of cream and stir until smooth.
- Bitter or smoky: the sugar burned. Start over with fresh sugar.
Cakes and Desserts to Pour It Over
For a cake, use the sauce cooled and thickened. Drizzle it over the top so it runs down the sides, or spread a thin layer between cake layers inside a ring of frosting so it cannot leak out. It goes well with a salted caramel cake, and for a filling that holds a slice, use my caramel cake filling. Beat a few spoonfuls into salted caramel buttercream for extra flavor.
Warm, it is my go-to for vanilla ice cream, cheesecake slices and coffee. Swirl it into the batter of caramel apple skillet brownies, serve it with caramel pecan dump cake, or set out a bowl as a dip for sliced apples next to homemade caramel apples.
Storing and Reheating the Jar
Let the sauce cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then pour it into a clean heatproof jar and leave it open until it reaches room temperature. Seal it and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. It sets thick when cold, so warm it gently in the microwave in short bursts or in a small pan, stirring, until it pours again.
Caramel Sauce, Quickly Answered
Can I make caramel sauce without heavy cream?
Half-and-half works for a thinner, lighter sauce. Milk alone is too thin and more likely to split.
Do I need a candy thermometer?
No. Go by color and smell: every lump melted, deep amber and nutty.
Is there a version without refined sugar?
Yes, my date caramel is blended from dates and tastes close, though it is thicker and needs thinning before you can drizzle it.
Save this caramel sauce recipe to your Pinterest dessert board so a jar is never far away, and tell me in the comments what you poured it on.
Caramel Sauce Recipe
This homemade caramel sauce is a smooth, pourable caramel made with granulated sugar, butter, heavy cream, vanilla and a pinch of salt. It takes about 15 minutes in one heavy pan and makes about 1 1/2 cups of glossy sauce that thickens as it cools. The sugar is melted until deep amber, then the butter and room temperature cream are stirred in, which keeps the caramel from seizing. Use it as a caramel sauce for cake, a drizzle for cheesecake and ice cream, a dip for apples, or a swirl in brownies and coffee. Add the salt for salted caramel sauce, or simmer a minute longer for a thicker sauce. Keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks and warm it gently before serving.
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional, for salted caramel)
Instructions
MELT THE SUGAR: In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the sugar in an even layer. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon until the sugar clumps together and then melts into a thick, amber-colored liquid. Continue stirring patiently as the sugar fully dissolves.
ADD THE BUTTER: Once the sugar is fully melted, carefully add the butter cubes. The mixture will bubble rapidly, so use caution. Stir until the butter is completely melted and combined with the sugar.
INCORPORATE THE CREAM: Slowly pour in the heavy cream while stirring continuously. The caramel will bubble vigorously. Stir until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
ADD FLAVORING: Stir in the vanilla extract and salt if using. Mix until fully incorporated.
COOL AND STORE: Remove the saucepan from heat and allow the caramel sauce to cool for about 10 minutes. Transfer to a clean, heatproof jar and let it reach room temperature before sealing.
Notes
Bring the cream to room temperature before you start; cold cream can make the caramel seize into hard lumps. If that happens, return the pan to low heat and stir until smooth. Use a medium heavy-bottomed pan, because the sauce bubbles up hard when the butter and cream go in. Pull the sugar off at deep amber with a nutty smell; burned caramel tastes bitter and cannot be fixed. If the sauce splits and looks greasy, whisk in 1 to 2 tablespoons warm cream off the heat. The sauce thickens as it cools; simmer 1 to 2 minutes longer for thicker sauce or add more cream for thinner. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Reheat gently in the microwave or on the stove before serving.
