Homemade Caramel Sauce

Don't you just love caramel sauce? It goes well with various kinds of desserts, namely, ice-cream, cakes, puddings, pancakes, waffles just to name a few.Oh not forgetting it also taste mmmhmmmm goood on its own. :p

Caramel is one of my favourite flavours and I would love if I could make my own caramel sauce at home. There's nothing more satisfying and rewarding than making your own sauce to go with your own homemade desserts...Oh nikmat!!!

I've always been terrified of making caramel sauce because I was afraid that it would not turn out good and the sauce would taste burnt. Making caramel sauce from scratch is actually easier than you think. I went through the hassle of trying 3 recipes before getting the right one.Actually I think all the three recipes have their own uniqueness and could cater different taste buds.But i personally like the last recipe due to its consistency and unique caramel taste. :)

Lets take a look at my maiden attempt on making a Caramel Sauce!

1st Attempt

It didn't turn out as good I thought it would be...The caramel sauce got hardened and became like a candy. It was too sweet and tasted a bit like the chewy hard candy "Sugus" that turns bad. :p

What I've learnt from the first attempt is

• Not to substitute the light corn syrup with honey.The honey taste was too strong.
• Don't stir the sugar and water mixture as it is being heated.

Second Attempt

The reason why I was finding a substitute for the light corn syrup was because I couldn't find it here in Germany.This time I used a new recipe and substituted the light corn syrup with Grafschafter Zuckerrübensirup (sugar beet syrup).I think in Malaysia it's easy to find light corn syrup. So you don't have to worry about this.

The recipe goes like this 

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon rum
I substituted rum with two teaspoons of vanilla essence

Steps needed:

• Combine the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and vanilla essence in a saucepan.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat.
• Simmer for about 3 to 4 minutes or until it gets slightly thickened.
• Let the sauce cool slightly.

It turned out good.The taste was nice but I didn't fancy the texture that much.Maybe it's because of the substitution.Hmmm.. 

What I've learnt from the 2nd attempt is

• Using brown sugar will give a darker colour to the sauce
• The brown sugar has impurities and the sauce would not turn out as good as when you use white sugar.

3rd Attempt

Instead of trying to substitute the light corn syrup, I tried to search for a new recipe that doesn't require that ingredient. Actually I'm taking a risk by doing so because the light corn syrup actually helps in preventing the sauce from becoming into candy.So by omitting this ingredient, I would have to be extra careful in handling the sauce.

The ingredients needed:

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup water

1 cup heavy cream/ whipping cream (warm)

2 tablespoons salted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla sauce

Put sugar and water in a saucepan

Heat up the mixture using low heat.

Do not stir the mixture as the sugar heats!

Boil the mixture. It's a slow process that'll take about 7 to 15 minutes.

When it becomes like this, it's time for you to be extra careful

The sugar caramelizes and turns golden brown 

Once the sugar is golden, immediately remove the saucepan from the heat.

Important thing to remember here is to whisk warm heavy cream into the golden sugar mixture.

It would be best to wear oven glove while doing this because the reaction between the heavy cream and sugar mixture will create hot vigorous bubbles that could burn your skin. 

Continue whisking while adding the heavy cream.

Once all the cream has been added, whisk in butter and vanilla essence. 

Filter the caramel sauce to remove any impurities

Pour the sauce into a container and let it cool slightly

See the texture of the caramel sauce..Love-layyy!

Serve it warm with vanilla ice-cream...

Or dip fresh fruits into the caramel sauce

The best way to eat this sauce would be with a homemade bread pudding. 

You can get the recipe by clicking here. 

Oh naissss...

Be creative and serve it with custard sauce as well...Om nom nom nom!

Till the next post...

Tschüss und mach's gut!