Today I’m sharing an easy recipe for the perfect homemade salted caramel. Simple and straightforward with only a few basic ingredients and no special tools required! Salted caramel is so versatile. It can be used as a topping on many desserts like ice cream or cheesecake, be used to flavor buttercream frosting, or even used to fill the center of cookies or cupcakes.
I’ll be sharing a recipe using this salted caramel very soon! With more ways to use it coming in the future!
Before you get started, here are a few helpful tips to know when making caramel.
Tips on Making Salted Caramel:
- Have all ingredients measured out and ready to go before starting. The recipe will come together fast!
- Use a saucepan with taller sides. The caramel will bubble up when adding the butter and cream, you’ll want to have enough room in the pan so it doesn’t boil over.
- The sugar can burn quickly so keep your eyes on it to prevent any mishaps.
- You can gently stir the sugar and water together while the sugar is initially dissolving but once it is fully melted stop stirring and let it cook undisturbed. Additional stirring at this stage could cause your caramel to crystalize, which we want to avoid.
- IF your sugar does crystalize, don’t panic! Just turn the heat down to a medium or medium-low temperature and the sugar will eventually melt again and become caramel.
Once you caramel is finished transfer it to a clean heatproof bowl or container. The caramel will be thin consistency at this point, like in the picture above, but will thicken as it cools. Let the caramel cool to room temperature before using or placing in the fridge.
And that’s it! Not too hard, right? Now go ahead and make yourself some of this liquid gold!
Print
Homemade Salted Caramel
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 1/4 cups 1x
Description
A simple and easy recipe for homemade salted caramel. Perfect for flavoring buttercream, topping on ice cream, drizzling over desserts or just eating with a spoon!
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp water
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 6 tbsp, butter, room temperature & cubed
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Have all ingredients measured out and ready to go before you start.
- Place sugar and water in a medium saucepan and heat over a medium-high heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and bubbling, swirling the pan lightly. Without stirring, allow the sugar to continue to cook until it turns a dark amber color. Add in the diced butter and whisk until the butter is fully melted (mixture will bubble up).
- Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the heavy cream in a slow steady stream. The mixture will continue to steam and bubble up, so be careful! Stir in the sea salt.
- Transfer the caramel to a clean jar and allow to cool before using. The caramel will thicken up as it cools. Store in the fridge.
Notes
The caramel will thicken as it cools and become more firm when kept in the fridge. Let the caramel sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes to return to a soft but set consistency. If needed, you can microwave the caramel in 10 second increments to bring it to a looser consistency for drizzling.
Leave a Reply