Ask anybody who knows me and they will tell you that I like to save money. If I can make it, bake it, or create it, I will do it just to save a few dollars.
Well that includes everything except sewing.
I bought a 1966 Singer at a thrift store a year ago and even went into town to the local sewing shop to sign up for the beginner’s class. The owner of the shop asked me if I could do a few simple beginner steps that everyone should know like threading your own machine, sewing a button, etc. You get the idea. I told her the closest I ever got to sewing something was 8th grade Home Ec. and even then I wasn’t that great. So she told me I would need a beginner’s to beginner’s class. Yeah. I would be the only one in the class. Nevertheless I said yes. She said she would call when she had an opening in her schedule.
She never called.
I never followed up.
I can’t sew.
Buuuuuut, I do try to save money and create with everything else in my life. Like this salted caramel sauce.
Why pay up to five or six dollars for a jar of caramel sauce when with just a few ingredients and 25 minutes, you have your own, better tasting, no preservatives, salted caramel sauce.
And why stop there? Drizzle it on top of your new-craze-one-ingredient ice cream everyone is talking about these days! I made one-ingredient banana ice cream the other day and just sprinkled cinnamon and drizzled my salted caramel sauce on top for more of a banana’s foster sorta feel.
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 5 tablespoons butter, sliced and at room temperature
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon fleur de sel
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Before you begin, measure out all your ingredients and have them ready to use. It is very easy to burn your caramel if you are not prepared.
- On medium-high heat, combine sugar, water, and light corn syrup in a 2-3 quart saucepan. Whisk the sugar mixture continuously until it melts completely. It may clump at first, but that is perfectly normal.
- Once melted completely, stop whisking and allow the sugar to bubble for several minutes. It will begin to take on a deep amber color. This is what you want. If you are new to making caramel, use a candy thermometer until it reaches 350 degrees.
- Slowly and carefully add the butter and whisk until completely melted.
- Remove your pan from the heat and slowly pour in your heavy cream while whisking continuously.
- Still whisking, add your fleur de sel and vanilla until all the ingredients are incorporated and the caramel is smooth.
- Allow the caramel to cool in the saucepan for about 10-15 minutes. This will allow it to thicken up a bit as well.
- Carefully transfer your caramel to a glass jar and allow it to cool to room temperature.
- Caramel can then be placed in the refrigerator and stored for up to 30 days, but we all know it won't last past the weekend. :)
Other than a short stint in home economics to make a locker caddy, I can’t sew either! It seems so fun too, I wish that I could. Luckily, I CAN cook (decently, I think
, so I can make this fabulous sauce!