Go To Salted Caramel Sauce

By stancec44

Martha Holmberg likes to take her caramel right up to the precipice, keeping it just this side of bitter. But if you like a sweeter, mellower caramel, stop the cooking a bit sooner. In any case, be sure you have your cream measured and ready to go, because the caramel will continue darkening, even when you pull it off the burner.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup heavy cream or creme fraiche, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or more as needed
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, or more as needed
• 1 tablespoon cold, unsalted butter

Preparation

Step 1

Combine the sugar and water in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir a lot at first to dissolve the sugar.

Once it is dissolved, boil, undisturbed, until it begins to turn light golden. At this point, the water has cooked off and the sugar is starting to caramelize.

Continue cooking, carefully swirling the pan a bit so the caramelizing is even, until the syrup is a deep amber color, like the color of a strong iced tea; this should take between 8 and 12 minutes. This process goes very fast, so watch closely. You might see the tiniest wisps of smoke coming from the syrup, too.

Remove from the heat. Immediately add about 1/4 cup of the cream. The mixture is going to bubble and create a lot of steam. The caramel might seize up; this is all OK.

Add the remaining heavy cream or creme fraiche. Return the pan to the stove top, over medium-low heat; cook for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring with a whisk or heatproof flexible spatula until smooth and slightly thickened.

Add the salt and vanilla extract. Taste a cooled-off sample, and adjust with more salt or vanilla extract as needed. Finish by whisking in the butter.

Serve warm or cool; the sauce thickens as it cools, so to make it more pourable, just warm it up a bit.