Salted Caramel

Remember Alpenliebe candy..?? yummmm.. I love it.  Its still my favourite candy I must say.  Caramel candies are my all time favorites.

I like making caramel sauce at home for ice cream and pancake topping.  Few weeks back I tried my hands on salted caramel as I wanted to taste the caramel with a new ingredient i.e. salt.  Initially I was so apprehensive about the taste as to how my favorite caramel would taste with SALT :/  But trust me friends it was super duper yummy.  The sweet and salty taste of this caramel would make you crazy I can  bet.  You would want to dip the spoon in it and lick it, its that yum :)  

Salted caramel is famous for its awesome taste.  It is mostly used as ice cream topping, pancake topping, cake topping, baking etc.  In fact, wherever you want you can use it.  
Here in this recipe, instead of 8-10 tbsp I used only 2 tbsp butter and it came out so delicious.  Salt gave it a very unique flavour and I simply loved it.  I drizzled it on my pancakes and ice creams and it surprisingly doubled up the taste.  

I love my version of this sauce and would make it again and again.  By the way, there is a cheat version too that I invented :P  If you do not have time or you are so impatient just like me, add 1-2 tbsp water while caramelizing the sugar and it would get melted in a jiffy.  Then you can proceed as per the given recipe.  There would be a slight difference in consistency but no change in taste. I recommend this cheat version only if you are going to use it for topping and licking :) but if you want to use it in baking then make as per the original recipe that I am giving below.  So my dear readers, here is the recipe of an insanely delicious sweet n salty caramel.  Happy Cooking :)

Ingredients:

White sugar           -    1/4 cup
Brown sugar          -    1/2 cup
Unsalted Butter     -    2 tbsp
Fresh cream           -    1/2 cup
Salt                        -    1/2 tsp

Method:

• Take a non stick pan and add both the sugars in it.  On medium flame, slowly melt it.  Keep mixing gently.  It needs patience :)
• Once the sugar melts, cook it on slow flame for 2 more minutes till it gets a glossy brown color.  At this stage, add butter and mix well till it melts.  
• Add fresh cream and mix very well again.  Let it boil.  
• Remove from flame and add salt.  Mix well.
• Let it cool.  
• Now its ready to use.
• Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes:

1. Instead of brown sugar you can use white sugar too.
2. If using white sugar, it would be easy for you to see the sugar is getting caramelized by seeing its golden color.
3. Adjust the salt level as per your taste.  Initially use, 1/2 tsp then check and adjust it. 
4. If your fresh cream is a little sour then also you can use it in this recipe.  Still it would come out good.
5. Once the sauce get cool down, it would become thicker so do not overcook.
6. If making cheat version, do not store it for more days.  Consume it in a week.
7. For using in bakes, make the original version.
8. In case you don't like salted caramel, do not add salt and use simply as caramel sauce.