Salted caramel sauce

Oh my goodness, this stuff is to die for! The sweet, salty, sticky, gooey, buttery loveliness….it’s naughty stuff, but it just tastes so damn good! It can be spooned onto desserts, poured over pancakes, added to coffee, drizzled over ice cream, or even just enjoyed on a piece of toast. I made this batch be poured on top of Baileys panna cotta, but it can be enjoyed in so many ways. Just as a safety precaution, caramel tends to splatter a lot, so make sure you wear long sleeves to stop yourself getting burned.

Ingredients:

100g sugar

25g salted butter

125ml double cream

1/2 tsp salt

Method:

To make this sauce we are going to make a dry caramel (meaning the sugar just liquefies and turns to caramel on it’s own, without adding water). Put the sugar in a small sauce pan and heat over a medium heat. Sugar turns to caramel at a high temperature so be careful, it’s HOT! As the sugar starts to melt and dissolve, shake the pan to mix the sugar. Don’t use any utensils like a wooden spoon or spatula, otherwise the caramel may crystallize. Be careful not to burn it, that burn flavour ruins the sauce!

Once all the sugar has melted, add the butter and whisk vigourously. Keep whisking for 2 or 3 minutes, until the butter has melted, and the ingredients are well mixed. Warm the cream until it’s hot and add to the caramel slowly.

If the cream is cold the caramel tends to splatter and bubble away! Boil the caramel for a minute, then remove from the heat and stir in the salt.

Char’s tip: Make the sauce in advance. The caramel thickens nicely, as it cools down. Once made it can be stored in a sterilised jar.