homemade caramel sauce (for lattes & more!)
while i’ve been making my tried-and-true lattes for yearsss (a breville espresso machine is still one of my top purchases of all time!), i recently decided to try my hand at adding new flavor - caramellllll! my friend Lexy made me an iced caramel latte when we were visiting friends in Nashville & it blew my mind.
it took me a few tries to get it just right, but WOW am i glad i didn’t give up. this caramel is rich, creamy, just the right sweetness, & perfect to add to your coffee, baked goods, ice cream, or to just eat with a spoon ;)
RECIPE:
1 cup granulated sugar (note: cane sugar often does NOT caramelize properly!)
1/4 cup cold water
3 Tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
pinch vanilla bean powder
pinch salt
1 / add the sugar & water to a medium sized pot & turn on medium high heat. gently stir once or twice to combine the sugar & water but then let it rest until it starts to bubble! (stirring can prevent it from caramelizing properly!)
2 / lower to medium low & watch closely so it doesn’t over cook! let it bubble for about 3 minutes — watching for it to caramelize into an amber color.
3 / once it’s golden (like the pic above), remove the pot from the heat & immediately pour in the cream & cold butter & stir! it will splatter a bit when you do this.
4 / once combined, put your pot back on medium low heat & mix for 30 seconds until it’s smooth & silky!
5 / turn off the heat & add the salt & vanilla bean powder! mix well, then pour the caramel sauce into a glass jar. place air tight lid on once the caramel cools to room temp
that’s it! for lattes, add about 1 tbsp to your cup, pull shots over top & then whisk well to melt. or drizzle it on top of ice cream, waffles - anything really!
EXTRA DETAILS —
i tried making this with raw cane sugar first, & it just didn’t work quite the same way - so i’d recommend using granulated white sugar for this!
i haven’t needed to refrigerate it, but you can, especially if you’re in a really hot/humid climate, or if it’ll take you longer than a week to use up (in our home it does noooot last long lol)
here’s the reel version for all you visual learners!
LINKS TO EVERYTHING:
