Lesson 4 of 5 · Chocolate Essentials

Caramel sauce

  • Free video
  • Intermediate
  • Chocolate & Confections
  • 6 min
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Video by Preppy Kitchen on YouTube: “Caramel Recipe” Watch on YouTube ↗

What you'll learn

Lesson 4 of 5

Cook sugar to a deep amber and turn it into a silky caramel sauce for cakes, ice cream and coffee.

  • Color equals flavor; aim for deep amber
  • Warm cream before adding it
  • Hot sugar is dangerous, so work carefully

Ingredients for this lesson

Madagascar Vanilla Extract, 2 oz BottleVanillaGoods$13.00
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Madagascar Vanilla Beans, Grade B, 5 BeansVanillaGoods$12.00
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Lesson notes from VanillaGoods

Step by step

  • Cook sugar (with a little water for the wet method) over medium heat
  • Swirl instead of stirring, and brush down the sides with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals
  • Cook to a deep amber, about 340–350°F
  • Off the heat, carefully whisk in warm cream; it will bubble up hard
  • Stir in butter, salt and vanilla

Watch for

  • Grainy caramel: stray crystals; next time keep the pan sides clean
  • Bitter caramel: cooked too dark
  • Too thick when cold: warm it gently or add a spoonful of cream

VanillaGoods tip

Add vanilla at the end, off the heat. High heat drives off its aroma.

← Lesson 3Next: Vanilla fudge →

Tools for this lesson

The equipment that makes this easier. VanillaGoods vanilla is always our own; these tools are from Amazon.

As an Amazon Associate, VanillaGoods earns from qualifying purchases. We only suggest tools that fit what you're learning.

Put it into practice

Bake along with a VanillaGoods recipe that uses this technique.

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