Caramel Sauce

You can use this sauce for so many things--drizzle on pancakes or waffles or use as a dipping sauce for apples or other fruit. Try it in these AMAZING cooking bars from Taylor Made It Paleo - Triple Layer Cookie Bars with Chocolate Caramel Topping - or drizzle over popcorn for an easy and quick snack.

Try it on my delicious Caramel Apple Oatmeal or use it to make this Sweet and Savory Caramel Sauce to accompany grilled striped bass, thanks to Chef Andrew Zimmern. Get really adventurous and use it to make this Wild Game Liver Crème Caramel. Or, put it in a pretty jar and tie with a pretty ribbon and give to your friends and family as a gift.

  

Ingredients:

1/4 pound of butter (this is 1/2 of a bar of Kerrygold or OV Pasture Butter)

1/2 cup coconut sugar, I used this one

1/4 tsp. of sea salt, like this one, or Real Salt, or less

1/2 cup Grade B maple syrup, like this one

 

How To:

I have mentioned in other posts that caramel is very finicky. For that reason, I've included step by step instructions below with pictures so you can see exactly how it's made. This recipe is sans a candy thermometer, which I do not own. You can find other recipes with more exact methods that will use a candy thermometer and, if you prefer a more exact science to your cooking, those other methods may be for you. I'm a sort of "wing-it" cook and that's how this recipe came together.

 

1. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium to medium-high heat.

 

 

2. Watch the butter closely, and once it's melted add your coconut sugar and salt.

 

Just added and stirred a bit

 

3. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir to dissolve. This takes about two minutes.

 

Bummer that this picture turned out blurry, but I think you

 can see well enough and this is what it looks like after two minutes.

 

4. Increase heat to medium-high, bring to a boil and boil, stirring, for two minutes.

 

5. Add maple syrup, reduce heat to low/ medium-low, and simmer, stirring often, until the sauce is thickened. This takes about 7-10 minutes. It's nice if you have something else to do in the kitchen during this time (dishes, peeling potatoes, re-arranging cabinets, cleaning out the refrigerator, :) etc.).

***Keep in mind, the longer you cook it during this step, the harder it will be after it cools. The full ten minutes gives you a pretty hard caramel when refrigerated.

 

 

 

6. To save, pour into a small jar and refrigerate. The sauce will thicken and harden even more as it cools.

 

 

Comments: This makes 8-10 ounces and will store nicely in the refrigerator. I can't say exactly how much because I always use some right when I make it and it seems like that's about an ounce or two and then I fill an 8 oz. jar almost to the top with the rest.

 

It takes about 15 minutes to make and is well worth the time!  

 

 

“I think love is caramel. Sweet and fragrant; always welcome. It is the gentle golden colour of a setting harvest sun; the warmth of a squeezed embrace; the easy melting of two souls into one and a taste that lingers even when everything else has melted away. Once tasted it is never forgotten.”

― Jenny Colgan, Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams      

 

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This post was shared at Fat Tuesday, Traditional Tuesdays, Waste Not Want Not Wednesdays, Thank Your Body Thursday, Foodtastic Friday, Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, and Fight Back Friday. Please follow the links for other great recipes and ideas!