"You have to be a crazy person to just sit there and eat caramel sauce right out of the jar," said my grandmother.
Just then we looked up and saw my brother scooping caramel from jar to mouth. To be fair, he was gearing up for a caramel sauce taste test.
My brother declared the one on the right "funky, dank, and luscious." It was the all-around winner.
It's fine to eat caramel by itself. But don't make your final judgements until the sauce has mingled with vanilla ice cream.
And go a little darker with it than you think you should. The caramel you might like encased in bittersweet chocolate is different from what works drizzled over vanilla ice cream. It's all about the contrast between the creamy and the burned.
CARAMEL SAUCE
Makes enough to fill a recycled Bonne Maman jar.
ingredients:
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 stick salted butter
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons water
1/3 vanilla bean, halved and seeds scraped out
directions:
Measure out heavy cream and butter and set aside. Place sugar and water in a medium-sized saucepan. Swirl (by the pot handle) around until all the sugar is wet. Add more water if you need to. Place over medium heat. Don't walk away. Swirl around (by the pot handle) if it's not caramelizing evenly. Cook until it's almost at desired color (Grade B maple syrup or darker). Remove from heat and pour in the heavy cream. Careful. It will rise up and spatter. Whisk until combined. Add the butter. Cool for 20 minutes and then whisk in vanilla bean seeds. Store scraped vanilla bean in the caramel. It will keep for a few weeks in the fridge.
probably my favorite sweet on earth! this looks amazing.
ReplyDeletewith about a half dozen jars sitting in my cabinet, I think I'm ready to get started on batch one :)
oh snap. this looks amazing, especially on top of ice cream. i'm drooling.
ReplyDeletekate and frugalfoodiefamily. thank you for your comments. oh yes, it's tasty. i feasted on the caramel sauce this afternoon. all by itself. it's even good cold from the fridge. let me know if you make it!
ReplyDeleteAh, this looks absolutely divine.
ReplyDeletethis is exactly how i make mine - divine!! and if you are feeling lazy, trader joe's salted caramel is divine.
ReplyDeleteI love Carmel! And I would be one to be eating it plain also.
ReplyDeleteI like my caramel sauce on a salty side :) and I eat it straight from the jar, often :)
ReplyDeleteThis was really TOO good. I was finding excuses to put it on everything. Husband and daughter didn't share my love, but no worries. More for me! I even made brownies for the sole purpose of putting this sauce on them. Thank you!
ReplyDeletejust made 9 jars...doubled and tripled..it's amazing...thank you thank you! i will send you a pic....do you have a chocolate sauce you like? the ones i see all have corn syrup...thank you...x
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