Homemade Caramel Sauce

This sauce was made on accident, and quite frankly I think it's about the best accident I've ever made, if I do say so myself. The photo above features our new favorite breakfast, caramel apple pancakes. This was my plate, can you tell I like caramel??

In an attempt to make old fashioned caramel candy, I ended up with this. I know why now too, so if I do ever decide to make the candy (not sure I will though because I can use the sauce for so much more), I know what to change. Here's the recipe we used, and to make a sauce instead of a candy, remove the mixture from the heat once your candy thermometer reaches 110 degrees Celsius.

I've included some photos. I thought it might be helpful if you've never made caramel before. I wish I would have known what to expect before starting, you'll see why in a minute...

Waiting for the sugar (the recipe called for white sugar, I'll try raw next time) to melt, which took awhile, and my pan started on fire. Thankfully I was able to put it out right away, and then just went right on back cooking - I know, I have issues, lol.

The melted sugar.

Annnnnd, I suppose common sense should have told me that the liquid in the pot I had to pour the melted sugar into, should have been hot as well. I tend to learn things the hard way. I was a little concerned that I had lost this whisk forever. Thankfully, after a lot of stirring, and a lot of heat, the whisk survived.

So basically it looks like this until you get the temp you want. I poured it into a buttered glass dish at 110 Celsius because I was running out of time - and I'm glad I did!

I poured the thick, cooled sauce into this jar, and it's staying in the fridge. Sugar is a preservative, so it should keep for months. Some people claim it stays fine outside of the refrigerator, but I don't want to take any chances.

This sauce is sooo good mixed in with coffee too! It tastes just like a caramel machiatto when you add a bit of milk to it. Austin likes it on his ice cream, and to dip his apple slices in. Hannah just likes licking it off her fingers.

I think we may just have a caramel jar in our house at all times from now on.

Take care!