Homemade caramel sauce is easier than you might think, with just sugar, water, cream, butter and salt to make a jar that outshines anything you can buy.

Homemade salted Caramel sauce is one of my favorite recipes–mine includes a whisper of orange blossom water, so delicious with the caramel flavor. Serve the caramel sauce with sliced apples and more sea salt to garnish. This easy caramel sauce recipe only takes a few simple ingredients, no doubt your first time making your own caramel sauce will certainly not be the last! Goodbye store-bought caramel…

Ingredients

Granulated Sugar. Granulated sugar, skip using You can sub brown sugar or cane sugar but no need for brown sugar, since we are caramelizing the sugar. 

Water. Helps the sugar dissolve and ensures heat is distributed evenly. 

Heavy cream. The best salted caramel sauce uses heavy cream because it yields a thicker caramel and a creamy caramel sauce overall. Plus: so rich and delicious!

Butter. It’s important to use unsalted butter so you can have control over the amount of salt added, and it’s a key ingredient for a creamy caramel sauce. 

Sea salt. This gives us the sweet salted caramel sauce flavor we love! Kosher salt works fine.

Orange blossom water. A best friend to caramel and especially this homemade salted caramel sauce. You can find pure Lebanese orange blossom water in my shop. If you don’t have this fabulous flower water in your pantry, a little vanilla extract can come to rescue.

Corn Syrup. This is certainly optional; I like the small amount used here because of what it lends to the consistency of the caramel.

How to Make Caramel Sauce

Step 1. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and water using a wooden spoon. (The pot seems too large for this but the high sides are needed when the cream is added later, to prevent it from bubbling over the sides of the pan)

Step 2. Without stirring again, heat the sugar and water to boiling over medium heat. Pay close attention until the mixture becomes a deep amber color, and the sugar dissolves.

Step 3. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the heavy cream. The mixture will bubble up.

Step 4. Return to the heat, whisking until the cream is fully incorporated. Remove from the heat and stir in the unsalted butter, salt, and orange blossom water. Taste and add more salt if needed, garnishing with a few salt flakes as well.

Do I need a Candy Thermometer?

The beauty of this caramel recipe is that there is no need for any special equipment. No candy thermometer necessary! Keep a close eye on the sugar mixture and when it becomes deep golden, it is ready for next steps. Take care to move it off the heat right away once it turns golden because it can move quickly to become too dark and burnished.

Does homemade caramel sauce need to be refrigerated?

Yes–this recipe is not canned for shelf life. Once the caramel cools to room temperature, store in an airtight container, glass jar (like a mason jar), or any airtight glass container or other container. 

What to serve with caramel sauce?

The world is your oyster with a delicious caramel sauce! My favorite desserts are made that much better with a drizzle of caramel sauce. Instead of caramel apples, try an easy plate of apple slices with caramel for dipping, or spoon it on top of vanilla ice cream and ice cream sundaes, apple pie, pecan pie bars or pumpkin pie, drizzled over cinnamon rolls (right?!), and for a treat, even a spoonful in my morning coffee (think caramel macchiatos), or just a spoonful straight from the jar… 

Tips 

If you see sugar crystals start to form in your melted sugar, no fear and no need to start over. Just add a little water to the sugar mixture as it is cooking, one teaspoon at a time.

A heavy-bottomed saucepan is key to the cooking process to help prevent burning. 

Don’t sub high fructose corn syrup for the sugar, it isn’t necessary here.

This is one of those sorts of recipes where you have to have a little patience and resist the urge to stir. Move the pot off the heat the moment the sugar mixture turns golden, or it may burn.

Take care to use an oven mitt or hot pad while handling the heavy bottom pan. Once the sugar melts over medium-high heat, it becomes very hot caramel that can burn!

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