My sister Joyce had made a unquestionably delectable homemade caramel sauce for our family gathering on Father's Day this year. It brought back memories of when I used to make a homemade caramel sauce way back in the 80's (right before the Fat Free era), but for the life of me I could not find my recipe. I had stopped making it long ago because I would end up eating it all myself or having to throw it all away. My two oldest children Daniel and Caitlyn were not much in to caramel at the time and the aforementioned unfortunate Fat Free craze more than likely drove me to its disposal all together.
The big hit with my family and friends was my caramel corn. My recipe while not terribly difficult was time consuming and most folks just wanted to buy it already made, or nuke in the microwave for a quick and simple version. I was fortunate enough to be granted this recipe in the early 80's while working as a preschool teacher. Our cook, Pat would make her caramel corn for us on special occasions and I adored it. It was so gooey in some places yet crunchy in others, and lets not forget that dreamy caramel flavor that was to die for. Sweet and buttery, one of my favorite flavor combinations. So I surreptitiously acquired the recipe from Pat. After a number of years it became my annual Christmas gift to my family and friends. I would actually get requests for the caramel corn throughout the year as well. Then about three years ago my hot air popper died and along with it my ambition to make carmel corn. Well, at least for the time being. We finally bought a new popcorn popper. Although my husband still contends that the old one, the one he has had since college (his glory years!!) still works fine. In my books anything that dies while you are in the middle of using it, is trash!! I need efficient appliances as my time is very limited; more so my patience!
Today I decided to trust my reliable resource, the internet for caramel sauce recipes to see if it enlightened me to my recipe of old. Haven't quite found it yet, but the family is loving the quest. The wonderful thing about homemade caramel sauce that most folks do not know is that it is relatively inexpensive to make, you can make it with simple ingredients that you may already have in your cupboard and fridge, and the taste is absolutely incredible. The first recipe is from the Food Network. This one was the first I tried and it was heavenly and only took about 15 minutes from start to finish. I got the second recipe off of "Simply Recipes". Many of the recipes that I found on my quest for the "BEST" caramel sauce required a ton of ingredients like cornstarch, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk to name a few. What I found was that the fewer ingredients, obviously the easier, less expensive to make and they actually tasted better. Much more clean, rich, smooth and full flavored.
Many times I do not have a recipe at hand, or I don't own the particular cookbook I need for a recipe so I will use my internet resources. While I love my internet resources I don't rely on them completely. I glean my recipes from food shows, magazines; just about anywhere I see one that catches my eye, gives me a hunger pang, and sparks my passion for cooking.
Method 1:
Carmel Sauce Ice Cream Topping
Ingredients:
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Put the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan over low heat.
Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the sugar dissolves.
Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar turns a medium golden brown color, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Carefully and slowly add the cream and the vanilla.
Simmer until the caramel dissolves and mixes with the cream.
The sauce will be smooth and slightly thickened.
Serve warm or cool.
Add a little more cream before serving if it's too thick.
These satisfying recipes not only taste great, but are less expensive per serving. In addition most require only ingredients readily availabe at home, so you can have the toppings of your choice any time you need them.
Method 2:
Caramel Sauce Recipe
The big hit with my family and friends was my caramel corn. My recipe while not terribly difficult was time consuming and most folks just wanted to buy it already made, or nuke in the microwave for a quick and simple version. I was fortunate enough to be granted this recipe in the early 80's while working as a preschool teacher. Our cook, Pat would make her caramel corn for us on special occasions and I adored it. It was so gooey in some places yet crunchy in others, and lets not forget that dreamy caramel flavor that was to die for. Sweet and buttery, one of my favorite flavor combinations. So I surreptitiously acquired the recipe from Pat. After a number of years it became my annual Christmas gift to my family and friends. I would actually get requests for the caramel corn throughout the year as well. Then about three years ago my hot air popper died and along with it my ambition to make carmel corn. Well, at least for the time being. We finally bought a new popcorn popper. Although my husband still contends that the old one, the one he has had since college (his glory years!!) still works fine. In my books anything that dies while you are in the middle of using it, is trash!! I need efficient appliances as my time is very limited; more so my patience!
Today I decided to trust my reliable resource, the internet for caramel sauce recipes to see if it enlightened me to my recipe of old. Haven't quite found it yet, but the family is loving the quest. The wonderful thing about homemade caramel sauce that most folks do not know is that it is relatively inexpensive to make, you can make it with simple ingredients that you may already have in your cupboard and fridge, and the taste is absolutely incredible. The first recipe is from the Food Network. This one was the first I tried and it was heavenly and only took about 15 minutes from start to finish. I got the second recipe off of "Simply Recipes". Many of the recipes that I found on my quest for the "BEST" caramel sauce required a ton of ingredients like cornstarch, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk to name a few. What I found was that the fewer ingredients, obviously the easier, less expensive to make and they actually tasted better. Much more clean, rich, smooth and full flavored.
Many times I do not have a recipe at hand, or I don't own the particular cookbook I need for a recipe so I will use my internet resources. While I love my internet resources I don't rely on them completely. I glean my recipes from food shows, magazines; just about anywhere I see one that catches my eye, gives me a hunger pang, and sparks my passion for cooking.
Method 1:
Carmel Sauce Ice Cream Topping
Ingredients:
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Put the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan over low heat.
Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the sugar dissolves.
Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar turns a medium golden brown color, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Carefully and slowly add the cream and the vanilla.
Simmer until the caramel dissolves and mixes with the cream.
The sauce will be smooth and slightly thickened.
Serve warm or cool.
Add a little more cream before serving if it's too thick.
These satisfying recipes not only taste great, but are less expensive per serving. In addition most require only ingredients readily availabe at home, so you can have the toppings of your choice any time you need them.
Method 2:
Caramel Sauce Recipe
(Our family personal favorite!!)
1 cup of sugar
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go - the cream and the butter next to the pan, ready to put in. Making caramel is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients. If you don't work fast, the sugar will burn. Safety first - make sure there are no children under foot and you may want to wear oven mitts; the caramelized sugar will be much hotter than boiling water.
Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on. Note that this recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest of it is melted, the next time you attempt it, add a half cup of water to the sugar at the beginning of the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize.
As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.
Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) big. (Check here for an explanation of why adding the cream makes the mixture bubble up so much.)
Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.
Makes a little over one cup of sauce. I store some in squirt bottles that I purchased at Smart and Final, for easy of pouring onto sundaes and into drinks. Bottle can be heated in a bath of hot water to loosen up the caramel a bit.
On this quest for the BEST caramel sauce you may think my family has gone caramel crazy. I would tend to agree. They can't think of enough ways to use the caramel sauce!! We have tried the old standard as a topping on an ice cream sundae, as a dip for apples (It is 1000 times better than the dipping sauce from McDonald's and much cheaper)and just dripping it into their mouths because it is that scrumptious! In the process we found some wonderful new recipes and are perfecting others. All in all, we have found a way to make something so simple and DE-lish so inexpensively. Moat recently our new favorite is our own concoction of frozen Caramel Macchiato's. We had three frozen caramel macchiato's for a fraction of the cost of one at Starbucks. FYI, macchiato means espresso topped with steamed milk in Italian.
Caramel Macchiato Recipe
From Recipezaar
If you've got an espresso/cappuccino machine you're well on your way to recreating a top-choice Starbucks coffee drink. For the caramel part, you can use any caramel sauce that you find in the grocery store near the ice cream toppings (or follow my recipes up above for some reall delicious and inexpensive caramel sauce). Pick your favorite. Just note that to make this recipe work best you'll only need 3 tablespoons of a richer caramel sauce (like the stuff Starbucks uses). For the vanilla syrup you can use the bottled syrups, such as those made by Torani, or just whip up a your own from scratch. By the way, if you want to find out just how expensive this drink can be you can pick up bottles of the authentic vanilla syrup and caramel sauce sold in Starbucks stores.
1 cup of sugar
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go - the cream and the butter next to the pan, ready to put in. Making caramel is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients. If you don't work fast, the sugar will burn. Safety first - make sure there are no children under foot and you may want to wear oven mitts; the caramelized sugar will be much hotter than boiling water.
Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on. Note that this recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest of it is melted, the next time you attempt it, add a half cup of water to the sugar at the beginning of the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize.
As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.
Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) big. (Check here for an explanation of why adding the cream makes the mixture bubble up so much.)
Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.
Makes a little over one cup of sauce. I store some in squirt bottles that I purchased at Smart and Final, for easy of pouring onto sundaes and into drinks. Bottle can be heated in a bath of hot water to loosen up the caramel a bit.
On this quest for the BEST caramel sauce you may think my family has gone caramel crazy. I would tend to agree. They can't think of enough ways to use the caramel sauce!! We have tried the old standard as a topping on an ice cream sundae, as a dip for apples (It is 1000 times better than the dipping sauce from McDonald's and much cheaper)and just dripping it into their mouths because it is that scrumptious! In the process we found some wonderful new recipes and are perfecting others. All in all, we have found a way to make something so simple and DE-lish so inexpensively. Moat recently our new favorite is our own concoction of frozen Caramel Macchiato's. We had three frozen caramel macchiato's for a fraction of the cost of one at Starbucks. FYI, macchiato means espresso topped with steamed milk in Italian.
Caramel Macchiato Recipe
From Recipezaar
If you've got an espresso/cappuccino machine you're well on your way to recreating a top-choice Starbucks coffee drink. For the caramel part, you can use any caramel sauce that you find in the grocery store near the ice cream toppings (or follow my recipes up above for some reall delicious and inexpensive caramel sauce). Pick your favorite. Just note that to make this recipe work best you'll only need 3 tablespoons of a richer caramel sauce (like the stuff Starbucks uses). For the vanilla syrup you can use the bottled syrups, such as those made by Torani, or just whip up a your own from scratch. By the way, if you want to find out just how expensive this drink can be you can pick up bottles of the authentic vanilla syrup and caramel sauce sold in Starbucks stores.
For 16 oz.
vanilla syrup
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
coffee
• 1/2 cup fresh espresso (preferably Italian roast)
• 8 ounces milk, steamed with foam
• 3-4 tablespoons caramel sauce
You can use vanilla syrup from a bottle (such as Torani) for the drink or make your own vanilla syrup. Making it yourself yields a ton, is quite simple, and is again much more budget friendly. And the uses for vanilla syrup are endless.
Vanilla Syrup Recipe:
Simply combine 2 cups water and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then add 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Remove from heat and cool.
Store in a squirt bottle. (I purchased mine at Smart and Final in a package of six bottles for under $10.00).
To make your coffee drink, add two tablespoon of vanilla syrup to a 16-ounce glass.
Add 1/2 cup fresh brewed espresso followed by 8 ounces of steamed milk.
Add 3 to 4 tablespoons caramel sauce to the drink.
Stir before drinking.
vanilla syrup
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
coffee
• 1/2 cup fresh espresso (preferably Italian roast)
• 8 ounces milk, steamed with foam
• 3-4 tablespoons caramel sauce
You can use vanilla syrup from a bottle (such as Torani) for the drink or make your own vanilla syrup. Making it yourself yields a ton, is quite simple, and is again much more budget friendly. And the uses for vanilla syrup are endless.
Vanilla Syrup Recipe:
Simply combine 2 cups water and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then add 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Remove from heat and cool.
Store in a squirt bottle. (I purchased mine at Smart and Final in a package of six bottles for under $10.00).
To make your coffee drink, add two tablespoon of vanilla syrup to a 16-ounce glass.
Add 1/2 cup fresh brewed espresso followed by 8 ounces of steamed milk.
Add 3 to 4 tablespoons caramel sauce to the drink.
Stir before drinking.
Now if you would like this drink frozen you just have to wait for your coffee to cool, add ice, and the rest of the ingredients to a blender. Pour into tall glasses and top with a dollop of whipped cream and pour a little caramel sauce over the top for visual appeal. It is another ambrosial concoction.Yet to be tried is dipping marshmallows into the caramel sauce. You know the ones I am talking about on the mall that cost about $3.00 each? Or how about the waxed paper wrapped ones at See's Candy? As my mind rambles on, I am hoping that you can see that the possibilities are limitless. Let your creativity take over and enjoy the exploration. Let me know what creations you come up with.
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