This whole thing goes surprisingly quickly. If you had all the ingredients out, you could probably have a finished sauce in ten minutes.

I have a thing for caramel. I make throughout the year, in one form or another, and have been doing so for many years. It’s more of an art than a science, and there are all sorts of pitfalls, but once you get the hang of it, it can seem kind-of easy. I’ve been hanging onto this caramel sauce post for years, thinking it was just too good to cast freely out into the internet wilderness. But … here it is. Consider it your Christmas present.

If what you’re used to is the stuff you buy in a jar near the ice cream aisle, you’ll come to understand that it is to homemade caramel what a Polaroid is to a high-res color image. I’m not kidding. You will gasp aloud upon tasting this sauce.

Here are my notes on knocking this recipe out:

1. Let me just start with a confession: I never do the prep before setting out on a recipe. I know you’re supposed to. I’m a rebel. This recipe is an exception. Once things get going, it’s like trying to jump on moving train: you either have to be right on top of it, or you’ll fail. You’ll wonder why your sauce didn’t turn out and it will turn out to have been a matter of missing out on critical timings or coordination.
2. Equal in importance to timing and coordination, the right pan will make or break your caramel success. It needs to be scorch resistant and free of hot spots – no ifs, ands, or buts. Beyond that, I prefer a shallower pan with a curved-sidewall – although I believe many caramel makers use a saucepot. It’s easier to work with a thinner layer of sugar than a thicker one.
3. Now listen up, folks. When I say “heat-resistant spatula,” I’m not kidding. This sugar’s going well upwards of 300°F. Don’t assume your spatula’s going to be happy about it. Also, don’t let the spatula stay in contact with the bottom of the pan for more than a few seconds at a time, even if it’s a really good spatula.
4. When I first started making caramel, I had a hard time understanding just exactly what color “amber” is. In all fairness, amber comes in different colors. What you’re after in this recipe is “red” amber. By the time all of your sugar has melted, it will probably be deep yellow amber in color – maybe red, and if you add the butter and cream at this point, you’ll get a decent-but-mild caramel. If you want something rich and bold, you’ll need to achieve a deep red with hints of almost-black, like this:

5. David Lebovitz – whose caramel recipes I’ve poured over quite a bit – suggests wearing a shirt while making caramel. OK, actually he suggests wearing a long-sleeved shirt. The first time I made caramel sauce, I was wearing no shirt, just shorts. Never again. But let’s just say thank God I was wearing the shorts, OK?
6. I store the sauce a repurposed Bonne Maman jelly jar. It’s the perfect size; there may be just a bit more than will fit in the jar … uh oh, I guess you’re going to eat the extra with a spoon! If you put the jar’s lid on immediately, it’ll pop as the caramel cools, but don’t take this to mean that you’ve “canned” it. The mixture is not acidic enough to be canned in this way. This caramel sauce must be kept refrigerated once cooled.

It’s a bit difficult to make a double-batch, fyi – the stirring is quite a task. It might be easier to make two individual batches, back to back. Also good to know: when you pull the caramel out of the fridge, it’ll be thicker than peanut butter. You’ll have to reheat it if you want it to become pourable. 15-30 seconds in the microwave will do it. How long will it keep? I think the real question is, “Can anything keep me from eating all of it in one sitting?” If you have the willpower, I’d guess it’d keep for a long, long time.

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What to Do with Caramel Sauce

Drizzle it on someone you love. Or eat the entire batch with a spoon, if you’re in between someones. Fair warning: this sauce is so good, you might lose interest in sex. Temporarily, of course, because, I mean, nothing’s that good. On the other hand, if you need something you can admit publicly:

• Drizzle it on anything pumpkin. It’s an interesting combination.
• Put a heaping spoonful in a cup of steamed milk or latte, and nuke until blendable.
• Of course ice cream. Duh.
• Just eat it by the spoonful.
• 50 ways
• 10 ways
• 10 more ways

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Caramel Sauce

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