Making homemade caramel sauce might sound difficult. It’s not… it takes minutes. If you can boil water (and sugar) then you can make it. It is even easier than unwrapping all of those caramels to melt – and so much better! It is really is so delicious. Especially when it is warm, right off of the spoon. There is something about the sea salt that adds so much flavor and the vanilla that brings out a warm sweet aroma.
It takes just a little bit of effort and can be used on apples for a snack or on top vanilla ice cream with candied pecans for a quick and easy dessert.
Homemade Caramel Sauce with vanilla and sea salt
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/3 cup of water
1 1/2 cup of heavy cream
2 teaspoons of sea salt
1 tablespoon of vanilla bean paste or the seeds from 1 vanilla bean
In a saucepan, mix together sugar and water. Heat on medium until the mixture begins to bubble (for about 3-5 minutes), then raise the heat to medium high. Do not stir – only swirl the pan. Cook for 5-7 minutes until it becomes light chestnut in color. Again, do not stir, just swirl the pan. Remove from heat and add heavy cream slowly. It will bubble up, so stand back! Stir over low heat for a couple of minutes until the caramel melts into the cream and it is smooth. Add sea salt and vanilla. Let it cool. Serve over apples, or ice cream… or apple crisp. Or anything.
The sugar is just beginning to turn a caramel color.
This is when you should remove it from the heat – it can go from chestnut to molasses colored in 30 seconds!
I’ve just added the cream and cooked for about 1 minute – it goes from separated taffy to a smooth sauce.
