Whiskey Caramel Sauce
You only need five basic ingredients to make this simple caramel sauce recipe flavored with bourbon. In this recipe, I use the "wet" caramel method which is my tried and true method.
Servings: 1 cup
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (60mL) water
- ¼ cup (57g) butter (salted or unsalted)1 room temperature, cut into 4 pieces
- ½ cup (120mL) heavy whipping cream2 room temperature
- 1 teaspoon sea salt3
- 1 to 2 Tablespoons (15-30mL) bourbon4
Need to keep track of your ingredients?Check out my Printable Ingredient List!
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine the sugar and water. Use a wooden spoon or heat-resistant spatula to stir frequently but gently. Once all of the sugar is dissolved, turn the heat up just a touch to medium-low and let the mixture come to a low boil. Keep an eye on the sides of the pan in case sugar crystals start to form during the cooking process. You can use a pastry brush dipped in water to keep crystallized sugar at bay, brushing it gently on the sides if needed.
- As the sugar low boils/cooks, it will start to turn colors. Keep a careful eye on the color to determine when it's done. The progression is champagne color to light brown to light amber to dark amber. When it is dark amber (a golden/red brown), remove it from the heat.
- Immediately but carefully add the butter. Mixture will start to bubble, but stir quickly with your wooden spoon or spatula (or switch to a whisk, as I prefer) to incorporate the butter as it melts.
- When all of the butter is melted, slowly drizzle in the heavy cream while continuing to stir or whisk the mixture. It will bubble rapidly. This is ok.
- Once all of the heavy cream is incorporated, add the salt and bourbon to your liking. Allow to cool before using (it will thicken as it cools). Store leftovers in the refrigerator up to 1 month. Heat in microwave or on the stovetop before using. Caramel will be fine at room temperature for a day or two if it needs to travel. Caramel may be frozen, up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator and warm as needed.
Notes
- Butter: salted or unsalted butter is fine in this recipe. No changes to salt in recipe necessary.
- Heavy cream: this is the same thing as whipping cream. Either is fine for this recipe, but do not use milk.
- Salt: use regular table salt, kosher salt, or sea salt. I prefer "fine sea salt." If using a larger, coarser salt, add 1 teaspoon, taste, and add more if necessary. If you are concerned about too much salt, add ¾ teaspoon, taste, and add more if desired. Do not leave salt out completely. If you don't want "salted" caramel sauce, reduce to ½ teaspoon.
- Bourbon: leaving out the bourbon in this recipe will give you plain ol' salted caramel sauce. Two Tablespoons gives a very strong bourbon flavor. If you're worried about too much of a bourbon flavor, start with ½ Tablespoon, taste, and add more if desired.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
