Okay, I know this recipe isn't technically baking, but I think the fact that it goes with baked goods (such as the tastiest sauce ever to drizzle over warm chocolate brownies with a big blob of vanilla ice cream) totally justifies it being in here!
It's a really simple recipe with only 4 ingredients and although it requires a bit of concentration to make it, you'll be really proud of yourself once you've done it!!
Ingredients
175g caster sugar
3 tablespoons water
125 ml double cream
1/2 - 1 tsp salt flakes (depending on how salty you want it)
Method
1. Gently heat the sugar and water in a heavy-based saucepan over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring!
2. Turn the heat up and boil the mixture - don't stir it or the sugar will crystallize!!
3. When the colour changes to a rich gold, remove the pan from the heat. If you're getting parts of the pan cooking the sugar faster than others then swirl the pan to get an even distribution of sugar and heat but don't be tempted to stir it!
4. Once you have your golden caramel, remove from the heat immediately (it'll carry on cooking and go from golden to burned in no time unless you're really careful - this is the hardest bit!), and add in the cream and salt. It'll bubble up but this is totally normal because your caramel is so hot. Stir the pan until the caramel is smooth and thick. When you've got your caramel texture, set the pan aside to cool.
I couldn't get a picture of mixing the cream and salt in as the steam blocked up the camera on my phone but persevere, don't be scared and just keep stirring!!
This stores really well in a sterilised jar and is a really versatile sauce. It's really handy to have a jar in the fridge to dunk biscuits into if you've had a day that's really sucked... it's a guaranteed pick-me-up! I think sugar fixes everything and this recipe is definitely one that can make most things better!
- Try serving with ice cream to create a super simple dessert.
- Don't be scared to try it - if you cook the sugar too much you've only lost sugar and a bit of water. If you think you may have burnt it don't just add the cream and hope for the best or you'll get a bitter tasting caramel that really doesn't taste too good. You're better off starting again, learning from the mistake and being even more careful to make sure you get your salted caramel perfect.
- Try adding it to the top of a Nutella pizza (I'll post a recipe to that when I get round to making it) to give it a bit more 'oomph' (not that it needs it). Definitely not something for the faint-hearted! Probably enough calories in that to last you a week but once you try it you really won't care!!
This recipe makes about half of a jar full so if you wanted to double up the quantities to make a full jar to give it as a cute homemade gift that'd be perfectly fine :) It also stores well in the fridge, just let it come to room temperature before serving.
(As you can see by the time I'd got round to photograph it, half the jar had 'mysteriously' disappeared..)
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