Salted Caramel.  It’s everywhere, right?  I love it. There’s just something about that combination of sweet and salty.  My favorite dessert in the whole world is at Nostrana in Portland…Butterscotch Budino with Salted Caramel.  Oh. My. God.  I’ve made a few attempts at my own salted caramel sauce, but with not such great luck.

So, I was having a book club meeting at my house and was going to be perfectly satisfied with serving Brownie Sundaes (made from my “Only Brownie Recipe You’ll Ever Need” recipe) and drizzled with some store-bought chocolate fudge sauce and vanilla Haagen-Dazs ice cream, but the day before, a post on my Facebook feed from Bon Appétit pops up that says, “make homemade salted caramel sauce from scratch…to drizzle over anything and everything” and think it would be so good on the brownie sundaes!  Okay.  Fine.  I look at the recipe.  It looks pretty easy.  I’ll give it a whirl.

It was, in fact, VERY easy.  No candy thermometers involved.  I didn’t feel like I was waiting for ever and ever for the mixture to turn dark amber colored.  Honestly, the easiest and most delicious caramel sauce I’ve ever made (and I’ve experimented with a few!)  I could have eaten it by the spoonful, right out of the pot (okay, I’ll admit to using a spatula to scrape what was left in the pot to gobble up every drop!)

The sundaes were a hit ….you’re definitely going to want to make them. (And I highly recommend the book too…The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker.)

Now the question is what will I do with the sauce leftover in the fridge?  I’ve dipped green apples in it already.  It would be amazing drizzled over a slice of Pumpkin Roll or on top of a dollop of whipped cream on pecan pie or apple pie for Thanksgiving!  Stir a spoonful into your coffee or hot chocolate.  Even just lick it right off the spoon.

I might even be inspired now to try to find that Butterscotch Budino recipe and try it!

Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 tablespoon flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)

For Brownie Sundaes you’ll need to bake a batch of double chocolate brownies (aka “The Only Brownie Recipe You’ll Ever Need“) and buy some Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream 

DIRECTIONS

Bring granulated sugar, corn syrup, and 2 tablespoons water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil, swirling pan occasionally, until mixture turns a deep amber color, 8–10 minutes.

Remove from heat and gradually add cream (mixture will bubble vigorously). Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in butter and salt.  Let cool slightly before serving.

DO AHEAD: Caramel sauce can be made 5 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.