Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe made with golden syrup or agave syrup, whichever you prefer.
This recipe is about the importance of choosing the right ingredients for salted caramel sauce and there is not one but two salted caramel sauce recipes – one made with golden syrup and one made with agave syrup/agave nectar. Let’s dive right in.
Salted caramel sauce is a wonderful accompaniment to many foods and desserts. It is scrumptious poured over chocolate cake – especially my decedent Mississippi Mud Cake recipe or these Salted Peanut and Date Caramel Brownies by Delalicious – hot chocolate, ice-cream, apple pie, sliced apples, anything with apple really (try it with my Apple Blueberry Crumble recipe). And let’s be honest, it is also delicious eaten straight out of the jar!
It really is super quick and easy to make and tastes so much nicer than store bought versions. Plus, you get to control the ingredients and there are no hidden nasties or E numbers. It also keeps well in the refrigerator – I’ve had my current jar for nearly two months now.
I use unsalted butter as I like to be able to control the amount of salt I add to my sauce, this goes for all my baking, I only ever use unsalted butter. But if you do use regular butter with salt already added then try and taste your sauce as you make it, just be careful you don’t burn your mouth. You’ll probably need a little less than the recommended amount of salt. But taste it and see. Remember, you can always add more salt but you can’t take it out.
For the best tasting, richest salted caramel sauce recipe use double (heavy) cream. It has a lot more fat and flavour to it than single cream or pouring cream. You can, of course, use single or pouring cream but if you do I suggest you make the sauce that uses golden syrup to add some creamy buttery flavour to your sauce, especially if you want your sauce to taste rich and indulgent.
For me, the key ingredient in this is the salt. Table salt just won’t cut it. Fleur de sal is preferred but when I don’t have this I use pink Himalayan salt or Maldon sea flakes. In fact, I don’t have any table salt in my house as I use the others in all my baking and cooking and seasoning. You can add as much salt as you like till you find the Goldilocks ‘just right’ amount for your liking but start off with a ½ teaspoon and add a little bit more at a time.
The sugar in this recipe can be adapted too depending on the sugar that you have in your cupboard – no need to go out and by a specific type. The darker the sugar you use the darker the sauce will be and there will be a deeper, more molasses-like flavour. I usually mix two different types of sugar together just to get a more complex taste. Purest will say that you can only make true caramel with white sugar and I do love the taste that pure white sugar produces.
You can use golden syrup or agave syrup (sometimes called agave nectar), whichever you have in the kitchen. The ratio for substituting golden syrup for agave sugar is roughly one to one but I use just a little less agave syrup when using it as a substitute for golden syrup, same goes for when I am substituting agave syrup for honey or maple syrup too. I find agave syrup to be sweeter than golden syrup so that’s why I use less but it isn’t as viscous and it doesn’t have a particularly strong or rich flavour.
So, if using agave syrup, the flavour and consistency of the sauce will be lighter and looser. If you use golden syrup the sauce will have a lovely rich buttery flavour and thick sticky texture. I prefer using golden syrup for the added creaminess – it gives the salted caramel sauce an old-fashioned butter toffee flavour.
If you do use agave syrup I would suggest using the fuller fat heavy cream and some rich dark brown sugar to really ramp up the flavour.
And here is how to make the sauce:
55g of unsalted butter
35g of caster sugar
35g of soft dark brown sugar
30ml of agave syrup
90ml of double cream / heavy cream
½ – 1 teaspoon of salt
Or
75g of unsalted butter
100g of soft brown sugar
50g of golden syrup
125ml of double cream / heavy cream
½ – 1 teaspoon of salt
In a small heavy-bottomed pot over a medium high heat add the butter, sugars and syrup. Let it simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Swirl the pot every now and again to move things around.
When things have melted pour in the cream and sprinkle in the salt. Swirl the pot around to mix things. Then go in with your wooden spoon and gently stir.
Warning – this mixture will be very hot so please be careful! Swipe the back of the wooden spoon with your finger and taste to see if you want to add more salt.
When this sauce cools, the flavour mellows a lot so make sure you can taste the salt otherwise you might not taste any in the chilled sauce.
Let the sauce cook for another two minutes.
Use hot, straight from the pot or let it cool down before pouring into a sterilised jar for storage. Do not put into the fridge until cold.
Like I said, this sauce keeps well in the refrigerator and I have had my jar for two months now.
So, what do you think of my Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe? Did you try it out? Did you like it? What improvements would you make? Share a photo of your own attempt at this recipe or leave any feedback and comments below, I’d love to hear from you.
Bon Nomnom
Have you seen my recipe for salted caramel chocolate cake?
Here’s my blog blog explaining the difference between natural versus Dutch-process cocoa powder with tips on when you use each one.
If you like this silky salted caramel sauce recipe, please share with others.
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View Comments
Ohhhh I love a salted caramel sauce. I literally put it on everything but best of all on pancakes, waffles and ice cream. I've never attempted to make my own though!
Give this recipe a try. I actually works out cheaper to make a jar of this than to buy a jar in the shops. It is so good on pancakes with spiced apple on top!
I love salted caramel! This is a really useful article because not only do you explain how you explain why the ingredients are used and the detail is very useful
Glad you found it useful. I love writing detailed recipes as I find it so fascinating the interplay of ingredients. I just end up writing a lot sometimes!
You got me on this one. I so love caramel and chocolate. Oh, this looks amazing. I just might have to try it~!
Have a look at my chocolate cake recipe which uses the salted caramel sauce. I think you might like it.
OMG! It looks super delicious. Thank you for the detailed recipes. I think I'm going to try this some time.
It is really delicious, if I do say so myself. I hope you enjoy making it and eating it.
This looks divine, my husband is caramel mad and I really need to make this for him. The recipe is simpler than I thought and it's fantastic that it keep for so long.
I was so surprised at how easy it was to make. It sounds like something that should be a lot more complicated, but it is very quick with very few ingredients. You can whip up a jar in no time.
Well I love salted caramel and this recipe seem doable. I love the fact that it keeps for up to two months in the refrigerator. This make a huge difference to me as it means I can use it on many different foods.
It keeps for a long time but I eat it within the two months. I put it on everything. I am going to have to start making double batches to make it last.
The entire time I was looking at this article I was drooling. I feel like this could also be a good gift for someone, kind of like jars of jam for the holidays.
Yes, it would make a lovely gift. I would love to receive this. You could make it for me!
I love everything of caramel. This recipe is also added in my list. However, I earlier I had tasted caramel sauce but not like this one. I can now tell my mother to make this for me. Thanks for sharing.
Lol! It is so easy you can make it as a treat for your mum! Enjoy.
This is similar to the base of David Lebovitz's salted caramel ice cream. I licked the pot clean after I made that ice cream, I didn’t think about using it as a dessert sauce. I sense a 10 pound weight gain coming on. x
Oh, I've never made ice-cream before, it is just easier for me to buy ice-cream and pour this sauce over it. I love David Lebovitz. His recipes are so tasty.
Omg how decadent does that salted caramel look! I can definitely see myself using this for several baked dishes and over ice cream. yum!
It is wonderful over ice-cream, even better if it is hot when you pour it!
This looks so yummy and I love how you've laid out all the steps to make it look simple enough for even someone like me haha I'm not the most amazing chef...I can't wait to try it!
It is super easy to make. I am sure if you make it it will taste wonderful! Give it a go.
I'm going to have to have a go at making this so I can finally see what all the fuss is about salted caramel. I've never tried it!!
Louise x
Be prepared to become addicted!
I think I just gained weight looking at the recipe and how delish that looks! LOL. I am so going to try to make this for the holidays! Thanks!
None of my recipes have any calories! I swear it's true!
This looks so tasty! Gonna try and make this - I love the taste of salted caramel
Oh it is one of my favourite things to make and eat.
Wow! This looks a delicious sauce! I will definitely try this. I love caramel.
I love caramel too! I hope you try the recipe. Let me know how you get on.
I love, love, love caramel. I will defiantly need to try this out. I love to bake so it would be a lot of fun to make I think. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe. I'm looking forward to trying it.
This is fun to make but it is even more fun to eat!Enjoy.
Oh, yes! The flavor of the Salted Caramel is amazing. Thank you so much for the sauce.
No problem, Anastasia, I hope you enjoy making and eating it.