Caramel Sauce
By Dawn Arnold
Ingredients
1 cup Sugar
6 tablespoons Water
1 cup Heavy Cream, warmed slightly
2-3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Directions
Place the sugar and water together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Stir until just combined, and do not stir anymore.
Cook on medium heat or slightly above medium until the sugar water mixture turns an amber color. This will take about 8 minutes. Watch carefully because when it starts turning an amber color, it can quickly get too dark and will taste burnt.
Remove from the heat long enough to add the heavy cream. Be sure that your heavy cream is warm and not cold. You do not want to add a cold liquid to a boiling mixture because it could splatter out of the saucepan.
Stir constantly to incorporate all the heavy cream into the amber colored mixture.
Place the mixture back on medium-high heat, without stirring, and cook until the mixture reaches 230 degrees Farhenheight for a slightly thicker sauce or 225 degrees for a slightly thinner sauce.
Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract until combined.
Once your caramel has cooled down, store it in an airtight container.
If you want this to be a salted caramel sauce, you will need to add approximately 1-2 teaspoons of flaky sea salt to your mixture before it cools down. If you do not have a flaky sea salt, start by adding 1 teaspoon of a regular sea salt and do a taste test, and adjust to your preference.
*I like to pour my caramel into a glass jar, and once it has cooled down, add the lid and store it in the refrigerator.
*This caramel sauce will last for several weeks in the refrigerator and possibly longer. It usually does not last that long at my house because we love caramel!
*There is NO need for butter in this recipe!
*This recipe is adapted from Cupcake Jemma's caramel sauce recipe!