Dive into the world of homemade salted butter caramel sauce – it's smooth, sweet with a kick of salt, and ridiculously easy to make with just 3 ingredients. No fancy tools needed to jazz up your desserts!
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What is Caramel beurre salé?
Salted caramel sauce also called "salidou" in its native region of Brittany in France, is a delicious French caramel sauce recipe that flavors all our favorite desserts and that we also use in all our homemade pastries and baked goods.
This delicious "caramel au beurre salé" recipe that we don't present anymore needs only 3 main ingredients in its preparation, granulated sugar, salted or unsalted butter, and heavy cream.
Why you'll love this recipe
Craving for more Caramel recipes? Give these a try, Salted caramel macarons, Caramel cinnamon rolls, Salted caramel cupcakes, Caramel chocolate chip cookies.
Ingredients Notes
You need these ingredients to make this French salted caramel sauce:
Ingredients Notes
- Sugar: Use white granulated sugar, which you can easily substitute with whole sugar such as brown sugar or cane sugar for a flavored caramel.
- Butter: Preferably salted butter, but don't panic if you only have unsalted butter, it works with it too.
- Cream: Use full-fat heavy cream with at least 30% fat content, heavy whipping cream, preferably at room temperature or slightly heated in a pan or in the microwave, it should not be cold.
- Salt: Essential, especially if you are using unsalted butter, use fleur de sel (flaky sea salt) like Maldon sea salt flakes or kosher salt or even just regular table salt.
- Vanilla: As an option, you can add vanilla beans previously infused in the cream or pure vanilla extract to flavor the caramel.
How to make Salted butter Caramel Sauce
Here are some quick visual instructions. Don't forget that full recipe instructions with exact ingredients can be found in the recipe card below!
Step 1: Place granulated sugar in a medium saucepan and heat over medium-high stirring constantly until the sugar cooks and is completely melted and turns to a deep amber color.
Step 2: Add the semi-salted butter or unsalted butter cut into pieces to the saucepan containing the melted sugar mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until you obtain a homogeneous mixture.
Step 3: Add sea salt for a more salty caramel sauce or if using unsalted butter.
Step 4: Add the room temperature cream in 2-3 additions while stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon and reduce heat to low and cook the caramel for 3-4 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until the caramel thickens with a smooth consistency.
Step 5: Place the salted butter caramel in a glass jar with a lid and keep it at room temperature.
Serving Suggestions
- As a topping for buttermilk pancakes, waffles, French crepes, on a New York Style cheesecake, in apple desserts, like an apple galette, an apple pie, puff pastry apple tart, apple crisp pie, French apple tart.
- To flavor a frosting like vanilla buttercream, cream cheese frosting, Swiss meringue Buttercream, White chocolate ganache like this salted caramel ganache, a salted caramel Swiss buttercream, to flavor vanilla ice cream, in you coffee, milkshake, smoothies...
- As a filling in a tart like in my chocolate tartlets, in a layer cake, to fill macarons,
- Make a brown butter caramel sauce, by first following my recipe for homemade brown butter which will give a nutty caramel flavor.
Tips for this recipe
Storage instructions
How long does it last? You can keep the salted caramel sauce recipe in a glass jar with an airtight container for about 1 month both at room temperature or in the fridge.
>> In the refrigerator its texture will become firmer, you will have to warm it up a bit in the microwave before using it.
Can I Freeze butter caramel? You can also store salted caramel in the freezer for up to 3 months. Place it in small containers or an ice cube tray to thaw small amounts more easily.
>> To cook the sugar you can also use the wet method which consists in adding a small quantity of water to the sugar, it will melt more easily but the caramel will take more time to be made the time that all water is evaporated.
Recipe Variations
Recipe Questions
In caramel, butter serves to enrich the flavor and enhances the overall taste by introducing a rich and buttery note, complementing the sweetness of the caramelized sugar.
The difference between caramel and sea salt caramel is that we add flaky salt into the preparation. Salted caramel recipe is a variation of regular caramel, where a small amount of sea salt is added to enhance rich caramel flavor and provide a contrast of sweetness and saltiness.
Yes, it's possible, but coconut milk will bring a different flavor and, as it's less fatty, the texture will be less creamy and will take longer to thicken. It's a good option for making vegan caramel, but you can also use coconut cream.
More Filling Recipes
I hope you love this salted dry caramel sauce recipe. If you make it, be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Happy Baking!
Print
Salted Butter Caramel Sauce
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 20 servings
Description
Recipe for homemade sea salt butter caramel sauce, for a jar of 200 g (about 1 cup).
Ingredients
- 200 g (1 cup) Sugar - granulated
- 80 g (⅓ cup) Butter - semi-salted or unsalted
- 150 g (⅔ cup) Heavy cream - or double cream at room temperature
- 3 pinch Sea salt - Fleur de sel
Instructions
- Place the granulated sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Heat the sugar for the caramelization stage, the sugar will dissolve, become liquid and take on an amber color (be careful not to burn your caramel)
- Still, on the heat, add the pieces of butter and mix with a wooden spoon until you obtain a homogeneous and liquid texture.
- Then, still, on the heat, add the heavy cream in 2-3 times while mixing between each addition.
- Cook the caramel for another 3-4 minutes over medium heat until thick and smooth.
- Add the sea salt and mix again.
- If necessary, blend the caramel in a hand blender to homogenize the caramel (small pieces of sugar often remain.)
- Pour the salted caramel sauce into a glass jar with a lid and store in the refrigerator.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
Conservation : Up to 1 month in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: french
Nutrition
- Calories: 93
- Sugar: 10
- Sodium: 37
- Fat: 6
- Saturated Fat: 4
- Carbohydrates: 10
- Cholesterol: 19
irresistible
Really great caramel!
Thanks for sharing ♥️