Salted Maple Caramel Sauce (easy recipe!) (2024)

FAQs

How do you make salted caramel sauce thicker? ›

To thicken a caramel sauce, use one tablespoon of cornstarch or tapioca starch (sometimes known as tapioca flour) and one tablespoon of water per cup of caramel. Then simmer the caramel, stirring it constantly with a wooden spoon until it becomes thick.

You can substitute maple syrup for honey in equal amounts. Decrease the oven temperature by 25 degrees since maple Syrup tends to caramelize and burn on the top and edges sooner than recipes using cane sugar.

Caramel sauce is easier to mix and dissolve, and it also has a richer flavor because of the dairy / fat. If you want to use it to decorate your coffee (hot or iced) on top of the whipped cream, I'd recommend syrup because it holds well in lower temperatures and it is better to make drawings.

If you want a thickener that will not alter the glossy color of the caramel, try tapioca flour (not pearls). Simply add small amount to your sauce to thicken it.

If you have added too much butter to your caramel sauce, you may find that it is too oily or it might even begin to separate. To fix this, add 1 tablespoon of either water or milk and stir while cooking over medium heat. Adding 1-2 Tbsp of a simple cornstarch slurry may fix the problem, as well.

Boil it more. Maple syrup is typically boiled down to 219 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have syrup that was boiled to less than that, or you like your syrup thicker than standard, just put it in a pot on the stove and boil it to your desired temperature. 240 degrees will get you maple syrup candy.

Maple syrup that is boiled too long will crystallize and maple syrup that isn't boiled long enough will spoil quickly and will be watery because the concentration of sugar in the syrup will be too low.

Maillard reactions are the same reactions that browns the crust of baked bread or gives French fries that golden color. They also provide the coloring for maple syrup. The more glucose and fructose sugars in the boiling sap and the longer the sap boils, the darker the syrup will be.

Combine brown sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan and bring ingredients to a boil. Remove thickened mixture from heat before adding (optional) vanilla extract. Let the caramel cool slightly before using. The result is an impossibly rich sauce that is guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Sugar Note: Most chefs say that only granulated sugar can be successfully caramelized; other sugars — such as brown sugar and unrefined sugar such as cane sugar — contain impurities that can inhibit caramelization. It's those impurities that can burn before the sugar has time to caramelize.

Which is better salted caramel or caramel? ›

Taste Experience: Including salt in caramel adds a savoury element that appeals to those who enjoy a balance of sweet and savoury flavours. It elevates the taste experience by offering a more rounded and sophisticated flavour.

To make maple syrup, the tree trunk is drilled or tapped to allow the sap to flow out in the hanging bucket. The collected sap liquid is boiled until it reaches 219°F. At this point, the water evaporates and a thicker consistency develops. Then it is filtered through a cloth to prevent contamination before bottling.

JUST NO! Maple syrup tastes like maple syrup because it has real actual maple sap in it. Pancake syrup is just simple sugar syrup and/or corn sugar syrup (and some have some artificial maple flavoring added, but not all).

If you're using heavy cream, note that it contains more water (less butterfat) than double cream. If your caramel sauce ends up too runny, cook it for a few minutes longer to remove some of the moisture – this will thicken it up. (And next time, try using a slightly smaller amount of heavy cream.)

If the temperature gets too hot and the caramel becomes too hard as it cools, you can put it back in the pan with a couple of tablespoons of cold water to try and save it.

If the caramel is too thin, simmer the caramel on medium heat for 5-10 minutes to thicken it (the caramel will not continue to darken). Keep in mind that the caramel will thicken significantly once cool. Likewise, if the caramel is too thick, thin by stirring a tablespoon or two of heavy cream.

However, as the caramel sauce cools, some of the sugar molecules can re-crystallize, causing the sauce to thicken. This is especially likely to occur if there are sugar crystals left on the sides of the pan or if you stir the sauce while it's cooling.