I’ve been seeing a lot of “easy caramel sauces” around the web lately that involve melting brown sugar in cream and reducing it. While they may have the color of caramel, they’re a bit like a cheap iPhone knockoff… a poor imitation of the real thing. That’s because the sugar in these recipes isn’t actually caramelized. Instead, you’re getting a cream based brown sugar syrup which lacks the nuanced flavor and hint of bitterness that makes a real caramel sauce so good. Unlike a dirt cheap iPhone clone though, a fake caramel sauce takes just as much time to make, which leaves me to wonder, “what’s the point?”
Here’s my technique for making an easy vanilla caramel sauce. For your pittance of effort, you’ll be rewarded with about a cup of insanely flavorful vanilla caramel. In my case I had about a cup in the pan, but by the time I transferred it to a jar about a quarter of it had not-so-mysteriously disappeared into my mouth:-)
The addition of a whole vanilla bean really takes this sauce to the next level with a heavenly aroma and little black vanilla seeds that add some visual appeal to the rich brown caramel. Flavorwise, you still get the smoky sweet caramel notes as the silky smooth sauce dissolves on your tongue, followed by the rich cream and butter, but the real treat comes at the end with the long, lingering flavor of vanilla.
I prefer using evaporated cane juice (a.k.a. raw sugar) for the caramel because it has more flavor than the white stuff. Since unprocessed sugar will burn if you take it to the standard 350 degrees F for making caramel, be sure to stop it at 330 degrees F. If you are using regular granulated sugar to make this, be sure to take it all the way up to 350 for the most flavor.
This caramel sauce is delicious on apple pie, ice cream, or pancakes, and makes an incredible dipping sauce for apples and bananas. Store it in the fridge and reheat for a few seconds in the microwave to make it pourable again.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 cup evaporated cane sugar
- 1 Tahitian vanilla bean (or 2 bourbon vanilla beans)
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons cultured unsalted butter
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Steps
- Add the water to a stainless steel saucepan without non-stick coating (the high temperatures involved in making caramel can damage non-stick surfaces). Then carefully add the sugar into the middle of the pot making sure you don't get sugar crystals on the sides of the pot. Don't stir the sugar.
- Scrape the vanilla beans from the pod into a small saucepan, then add the pod along with the cream. Heat over low heat while you make the caramel.
- Cover the sugar water with a lid and bring it to a boil over high heat.
- Remove the lid and continue letting the mixture boil until you see it start to change color. Turn down the heat to medium and then insert a candy thermometer or use a digital instant read thermometer with a range that exceeds 330F to monitor the temperature until the caramel hits 330 degrees F.
- The moment the caramel hits 330 degrees F, turn off the heat and slowly start pouring the cream into the caramelized sugar while whisking. Be very careful as the caramel will bubble up furiously and it is extremely hot! Keep adding and whisking the cream into the caramel until it is all incorporated (you can discard the vanilla pod).
- Whisk in the butter and salt and let the caramel sauce cool before pouring it into a container to store.
Is it possible to use a dairy alternative like coconut milk to make this?
I just made this! Unfortunately it came out grainy. Are you not allowed to shake the pan of sugar and water when it comes to a boil? It’s still delicious!
Hi Cecilia, sorry to hear it didn’t turn out well. There are a couple of possibilities. The first is that the sugar crystalized due to some granules of sugar clinging to the side of the pan. Was the caramel gritty before you added the cream? To prevent this you need to make sure you pour the sugar into the center of the pan. This is also why it shouldn’t be stirred.  Covering with a lid should also wash off any errant sugar crystals with steam. If you want to further guarantee this doesn’t happen you add an invert sugar (such as corn syrup), this introduces sugar molecules (like fructose and glucose) that inhibit the sucrose (table sugar) from crystalizing.
Another possibility is that the caramel didn’t get hot enough. In this case the caramel will seize up and get hard when you add the liquid.
The last possibility is that the calcium in the cream precipitated out. To be honest I’m not sure what causes this. I’ve seen it a few times, and it usually happens as the caramel cools. You can tell if this was the problem because the grit will not melt in your mouth like sugar crystals will. I did some digging on the internet but can’t find a good explanation for why this happens.
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Hi Christina, yes, this should work with coconut milk with a little coconut oil added at the end.
Thank you so much! I have been searching for a dairy free caramel sauce to no avail. I’m so excited to try this out. I have a fabulous coconut milk ice cream that screams for this sauce. 😉
Hi Marc!
Merry Christmas and Happy new year!
So I JUST made this. It’s still cooling down at the moment, however, I think I don’t forsee mine turning out like your golden liquid pic. above. T.T
There was temp. irregularities… Meaning….
I used both candy thermometer (WilliamSonoma, couple of mo. old) and an OXO digital instant meat thermometer. The OXO one was reading at least 35~ 40 degrees higher then the candy thermometer.
I’m guessing perhaps b/c there was not enough volume of liquid for the candy thermometer to measure accurately (total guess) or one or both thermometers were duds.
I ended up turning the gas off when the OXO read at 300 because it obviously was burning. Especially on the hot spot, above the ignition point. It was dark, dark chestnut brown when the other half of the pot was dark amber.
I wish I could take a pic, but all happened so quickly.
So in my desparate last min. ditch to save the caramel, I poured in more heavy cream at the end. I’ll have to wait and see how this thing turns out.
I am so sad… T.T I’m gonna test both thermometers and try again soon!
Any words of wisdom?
Hi Yogicfoodie, happy holidays! Sorry to hear you had problems with this. Hopefully the sauce is edible. As for the future, try using a thicker bottom pan over a lower heat. If the bottom is thick enough the caramel should brown relatively evenly. The lower heat will make it take longer, but will give you more time to react once it gets going. As for the temperature you need to get it to at least 330 degrees F to get the flavor (if you’re using white sugar, you should be able to take it close to 350 degrees F)
I reconized to late that i need a thermometer for this, so i did go full risk….Tried to calculate the right moment by feeling and what can i say….it turned out to be AWESOME…seriously the best sweet dippingsauce i ever tasted. Thank you Marc 🙂
How long can you store it in the fridge?
It does have fresh cream in it so I wouldn’t recommend keeping it for months, but as long as you store it in the fridge it should be okay for a few weeks.
Hi chef Marc, im planning in making a batch of the sauce tonight but i have 2 problems.
1) I don’t have a candy or instant read thermometer.
-would there be any timing of some sort or visual cues to some how gauge the temperature of the caramel?
2) this is the only vanilla i have on hand or can get my hands on as of this moment: http://i21.twenga.com/food-and-wine/baking-essence/mccormick-vanilla-flavor-extract-tp_3916201457574083539f.jpg
-would the suffice and if i used it how much should be used?
Hi Jc Taylo, the vanilla flavor isn’t going to taste as good as using real vanilla beans, but it should be fine. As for not using a thermometer. I always just eyeball it, but I’ve made this dozens of times. If you’ve never made caramel before there’s a chance you’ll either undercook it or burn it without a thermometer, but if you’re okay taking the risk they I say go for it!
Could this be stored in the freezer until needed?
Hi Brittany, it should work in theory, but you’ll need to try it to be sure. There’s a possibility that freezing it could effect the texture (fat could separate or the sugar could crystalize).