This bourbon caramel sauce is the perfect topping for ice cream, brownies, cookies and a plethora of other desserts. This wonderful topping has just the right amount of salt and bourbon to compliment almost any dessert.Â
I don’t know when I started making my own caramel sauce but it was one of those things that once I started I couldn’t use anything else. This is one of those toppings that my friends request when I say I am bringing a dessert. I secretly think one of them uses it in their coffee every morning but I don’t have enough proof yet. You cannot go wrong with this easy to make sauce.Â
In this recipe
There are only 5 ingredients in this sauce. It is good to make sure that everything is room temperature or softened. This will help make sure that everything will mix quickly. Although this is a salted caramel sauce you will want to use unsalted butter. The reason for this is because not all butters have the same salt content. This will mean you will have varying results however if it is unsalted you don’t have to worry.Â
Melting sugar
One of the things you want to make sure is that you have a silicon or rubber spatula that can withstand high heat. You can use a wooden utensil however the sugar will adhere to it. There are two methods that you can use to make the caramel. The first is to only add a thin layer of sugar to the pan at a time waiting until it is almost melted before adding more. This is more time intensive but you will never have any clumps of sugar. The other is to gently heat all of the sugar at once this will require more stirring.Â
Making bourbon caramel sauce
When you cooking this although it doesn’t look it the sugar is extremely hot. Sugar turns to caramel at 320-360F (160-182C) and can burn so it is important to make sure you have a utensil that can withstand that heat. Also even though the butter and cream are going to be at room temperature it will still be cold compared to the sugar. Be ready for a very vigorous reaction when adding either of these to the caramel and stir until they are completely combined. Since salt melts at 1474F or 801C wait until the end to add it as it will not melt with the sugar.Â
Looking for desserts with sauces?
Salted Bourbon Caramel Sauce
Equipment
- Heavy bottomed sauce pan
- Silicone spatula or high temp rubber spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp butter unsalted, softened
- 1/2 cup heavy cream room temperature
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp bourbon
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan heat the sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly with a silicon or rubber spatula that can handle high heat. The sugar will start turning a caramel brown. Make sure you are stirring frequently to prevent burning.
- Once sugar is completely melted, immediately stir in the butter until melted and combined. This is going to cause a vigorous reaction and the cold butter will drastically cool the and bubble a lot. Remove it from the heat to keep the boiling down if it gets too vigorous. Add it back to the heat and stir until all of the butter has melted.
- After the butter has melted continue to stir constantly while slowly pouring in the heavy cream. Just like the butter it will cause the mixture to bubble vigorously. Once the cream has been completely mixed stop stirring and let the caramel sauce cook for 2 minutes. It will boil to the top.
- Remove from heat and stir in the salt and bourbon. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before pouring into another container. Allow to cool until the container is cool enough to hold before using.
Notes
Nutrition
