The beauty about making your own caramel sauce is that you can easily adjust the recipe to your own taste. There are 6 basic ingredients in this recipe and I will show you 2 versions where I only substitute 1 ingredient for a totally different taste.

Who connected us?!  My wife absolutely love caramel and when making a first attempt on Gelato this week, I opted for the sweet Caramel Gelato. And what better way to make Caramel Gelato with your home made Caramel Sauce.

 Makes: a 250g jar |  Time:  10 min

Ingredients light version:

• 1 cup (200g) Raw Sugar or Light Brown Sugar
• 60g Unsalted Butter
• ¼ cup / 60g Pouring Cream
• ¼ cup / 60g Milk
• 1tsp Salt
• 1tbsp Vanilla extract

Ingredients dark version:

• 1 cup (200g) Dark Brown Sugar
• 60g Unsalted Butter
• ¼ cup / 60g Pouring Cream
• ¼ cup / 60g Milk
• 1tsp Salt
• 1tbsp Vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy based saucepan and simmer over low heat, whisking constantly for about 5 minutes or until thickened. Keep in mind that the sauce will thicken when it cools.
2. You can prepare the sauce in advance and keep refrigerated for 2 weeks easily. Serve at room temperature or warm up slightly if you prefer a more runny sauce.

Notes:

Light or Dark, what is the difference:  Dark brown sugar has a deeper molasses flavour, and of course, a darker colour. The Caramel sauce made with dark brown sugar will have a deeper, almost butterscotch flavour, and of course a darker colour. I recommend the darker version when using the sauce as an ingredient, for example in the Caramel Ice Cream or Caramel Gelato. It will give the end-product more flavour and more colour.

Salted Butter; If you are using salted butter, cut back the additional salt in half.

Vanilla Extract; You can replace the vanilla extract for vanilla essence

Pouring Cream and Milk; In some countries you will find half and half cream. You can use ½ cup of half and half instead of the milk and cream.

Salt; If you are not so keen on the salty flavour or if you want to minimise your salt intake, simply leave the salt out.

Storage tip: You can use the caramel sauce straight away warm or cooled down, or you can store the caramel sauce in a jar in the fridge, easily 2 weeks or longer. The sauce will thicken when it is chilled, you can use it as is or warm it slightly if you prefer a more runny sauce.

Overcooking: When you keep cooking the sauce longer, the sauce will get darker and could also become slightly bitter.