Updated on December 30, 2012

I made it… Duh!!!  of course I made it. Uh!!! What I mean is that I actually made my own caramel sauce for the first time ever. I simply could not understand what I felt so terrified about this simple sauce. May be reading and listening to the scary stories made me feel that. But thanks to my friend that I tried it. You see, she did something very sweet for me and I wanted to thank her properly and asked what she wanted in return and a bottle of Caramel sauce is what she requested. Jeez…. I’m sorry if I cursed you J, but thanks for the much needed push.

I had always been intimidated by the process but no more. It was awe inspiring to watch the transformation of sugar into  caramel. It just too me just 10 minutes was even more surprising. My mom’s neighbor used to make this sauce while making cakes for Christmas and used to give us a bottle of this sauce and I used to treasure it for a week or so and used to eat it with a spoon. I used to crave for it all these years but now I can make it myself within 10 minutes. I do not have any fancy candy thermometer to check the temperature of the liquid and in my opinion you just need your eyes to be your better judge while making this sauce. Heck, if I can make it, so can you.

So, we had made the sauce from scratch but what are we supposed to with it. Hello, It is CARAMEL and there are plenty you can do with it.

You can eat it just like it is with a spoon from the bottle.

You can dribble it on ice creams, puddings, crumble cakes, sweet pies, fruit salads etc.,

You can use it as a sweetener in coffee, tea or in any of your favorite beverages.

I have always considered apple and pear to be the blandest of fruits. But slice, arrange them prettily and dribble them with caramel sauce like I did here and you have a wonderful appetizer to be served at a party. I finished the whole apple with caramel sauce dribbled all over them and it was pure joy.

You can of course gift a bottle of it to a friend, like I did. . Get my point.

Before we begin, you will need 15 minutes of uninterrupted time (no matter what) and apart from that you will need a dry, thick bottomed (preferably) deep sauce pan to make the caramel. Keep all the ingredients at hand next to you. Keep a dry clean bottle to pour the sauce, ready. You will also need a pot holder as the pan will be very very hot. I’m not good at handling pot holders, so I used a multifold thick kitchen towel to hold. I used a wooden spatula but you can also use a rubber one or a balloon whisk. I have tried to be as graphic as possible in the steps, but incase if you have any doubt, please do post them in the comment.

Homemade Caramel Sauce

Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 10 mins | Makes: 1 bottle

Ingredients:

• Sugar – 1 cup (200 gms)
• Unsalted butter – 2 tbsp
• Fresh cream – 100 ml (I used Amul Brand)
• Salt – 1 pinch (optional)
• Vanilla essence – 1 tsp (optional)

Instructions:

1. Place the sauce pan on the stove and put the sugar into it. The flame should be in medium low.

2. Remember to use a gentle circular movement of your hand throughout the cooking process. No stir frying motion at all. You do not want the sugar lumps flying off and sticking to the sides of the pan and later falling off into the sauce making it grainy.

3. For the first 3-4 minutes the sugar will get hot and will start to melt from around the sides. You will see a light brown line forming around the sides. The sugar is beginning to melt.

4. From the 5th minute on you will see the unmelted sugar forming into lumps. Now hold the wooden spatula vertically and stab at the lumps, like how you will mash a potato with a masher.

5. This will break the sugar lumps evenly and your caramel will form quickly. Once the lumps are gone and the sugar has melted completely, there will be no need to stir. The color would have changed to a light golden color.

6. You will see the sauce bubbling around the edges and the color would have turned from light golden to a deep amber color or that of the honey. You will also see big bubble wave from the middle of the pan foaming to the edges.

7. Switch off the flame and take the pan off the stove. Keep swirling the pan. The heat of the caramel will help the sauce to cook further and change the color to a deep one without giving the caramel a burnt flavor. Keep at it for another 1-2 minute.

8. Now place the pan on the counter and add the butter at one go. The sauce will bubble up and fume furiously. Do not be scared at this. Just keep whisking till the butter gets incorporated well.

9. Now add the cream. You will see the same reaction but once again whisk well. You can see the thickening of the sauce by now.

10. Now add the salt and vanilla essence if using and whisk well to incorporate them into the sauce.

11. Pour the sauce directly into the clean mason jar and let it cool down completely. It will take 2 hours at least.

12. The caramel sauce will thicken well and when you want to use it, just microwave the required quantity you require along with a spoon of milk or water to bring it to a sauce consistency. You can also do this on stove top.

13. You can store this in the refrigerator for a fortnight.

Notes:

1. Instead of vanilla essence you can also use peppermint or any other flavored oil.

2. I just cooked it on the stove for just 10 minutes to my surprise and all the other work was done off the stove by swirling the pan and by letting the heat do its miracle.

3. Do not overcook else your caramel will get burned and become unusable.

4. I used fresh cream from the carton but feel free to use double cream if you can get hold of it.

5. As the sauce will foam up, you a deep bottomed pan to avoid spilling all over the stove top.

6. Of course, you can always add 3-4 tbsp of water to moisten the sugar before you begin but it will take another 3-4 minutes of cooking time for the water evaporate.