Making caramel can be tricky. Anyone that tells you otherwise is a liar. If the sugar is undercooked the caramel will come out grainy. And the margin of error between perfect, gooey caramel sauce and an acrid tasting burnt mess is hair fine. If you’ve never made caramel before and it doesn’t turn out the first time, just be patient and try again. I have made this a couple of times both with and without the orange extract and it has always come out for me! Serve with caramel apple oatmeal or choux-rros.
Vanilla Caramel
Equipment
- Heavy bottomed pot for better heat distribution
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp orange extract Optional. Added last. Less is more.
- kosher or sea salt to taste
Instructions
- In the heavy bottomed pan, pour the cup of sugar, making sure it covers the bottom.
- Add the water, stirring gently to make sure all the sugar is wet.
- Turn the burner to medium low, allowing the sugar to start dissolving. After the heat is on resist the urge to stir it again,
- Bring the water to a steady simmer. You will see the sugar start to melt and the bubbles will start looking thicker as it cooks. This will take longer than you think it will, but keep an eye on it for it to start to turn amber. If it looks like it is getting darker in patches instead of uniformly, I will GENTLY swirl the pan to even things out.
- Allow it to bubble and cook until the liquid is the color of caramel (duh) and is starting to smell kind of nutty. Be careful not to let it burn!
- Turn off the heat.
- Whisk in the cream, butter and vanilla. The caramel might seize when you add the cream, and that's ok. Just keep whisking.
- At this point you should have smooth caramel sauce. Using a spoon (and patience or YOU WILL BURN YOURSELF) taste the caramel. Add salt if needed. If desired, add a tiny bit of orange extract. Less is more.
Tried this recipe today. Turned out really good and exactly as expected. Nice step by step instructions with perfect details.
Thank you Megan