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Salted Vanilla Bean Caramel

This Salted Vanilla Bean Caramel is the only caramel recipe you will ever need to make–it’s creamy, simple, and elevates just about everything it’s drizzled on.

  • Yield: 1 1/2 cups 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tsp corn syrup
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt

Instructions

  1. Gently warm heavy cream and vanilla bean paste, mixed together. Set aside.
  2. Combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, and water in a large metal saucepan. Heat on medium and whisk until the sugar melts into the water and the mixture begins to boil. Stop mixing now!
  3. Resist the urge to mix boiling sugar and water. Now we watch and wait.
  4. Once the mixture begins to turn amber, slowly whisk in warmed heavy cream + vanilla bean mixture. The sugar mixture will bubble up. Continue whisking until thick and homogenous. Turn off heat.
  5. Add butter and whisk until butter is melted and combined. Add sea salt and mix until salt is melted into the caramel.
  6. Transfer caramel to a heat-proof glass container and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.
  7. Serve warm immediately, or store in the fridge and heat for 30 seconds in the microwave before storing. Caramel keeps for up to one month in the fridge.

Notes

  • Corn syrup can be omitted if desired. The purpose of corn syrup is to inhibit crystallization and reduce the likelihood that your caramel takes on a grainy texture. If you stop mixing before the sugar/water mixture heats, you shouldn’t have much crystallization even without corn syrup.
  • Author: Caroline Crockett
  • Category: desserts, sauce

Keywords: caramel, salted caramel, sauce