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Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce & Apple Gift

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Brianna Shales

I put a lot of energy into holiday desserts, always trying to one up last year’s result and impress anyone I’m feeding the dessert to (whether I always accomplish that or not is a different story). This past Thanksgiving was no exception. I was tasked with making apple pie, but wanted to make it special. First, I decided to use a trio of apples – Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, and Cosmic Crisp. But somehow that wasn’t enough and I came up with the idea to make caramel sauce to drizzle over it. But not just any caramel sauce. Salted caramel sauce.

Wow, what a huge hit it was. The slightly salty-sweet sauce matched so well with the combination of sweet and tart apples and pie crust. Not to toot my own horn, but relatives were literally choosing my apple pie over pumpkin pie, and that’s a pretty big deal on a day like Thanksgiving!

Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe

After success like that, I knew what I’d be making people for holiday treats this year (it would also be a great hostess gift). This homemade salted caramel sauce recipe is SO easy to make, uses ingredients that are typically found in any kitchen, and makes the perfect accompaniment with fresh Stemilt apples (or pie, or ice cream, or straight off the spoon…you pick your poison). A win-win-win in my book.

Since the sauce is so easy to make, you can spend your time and energy getting widely creative wrapping this gift. Use a basket or gift bag or keep it simple like I did with holiday-colored plastic wrap, ribbon, and a gift tag. We made a gift tag especially for this salted caramel sauce that you can download and print: Salted Caramel Sauce Gift Tags.

Once your caramel sauce gift is complete, come back and leave a review!

Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 tsp gray salt (or any color fine-grained salt)

This sweet and salty caramel sauce makes the perfect holiday gift.

Rate this recipe:
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  • Yield
    varies servings
  • Prep time
  • Cook time
  • Total time
  • Cuisine
    American
  • In Category
    Dessert

Instructions

  1. Add sugar and water to a saucepan over medium heat. Allow sugar to dissolve in water.
  2. Turn heat up to medium-high and bring mixture to a boil. Allow it to boil until the sugar caramelizes, or turns brown, anywhere from 5-10 minutes. Do not stir as it is boiling, however you can brush any sugar that appears on the side of the pan down with a pastry brush.
  3. Once brown, remove the saucepan from the heat, slowly add in cream, and then the butter. Mix until smooth.
  4. Add the salt, tasting along the way until you reach the level of sweet-salty that you want.
  5. Store in refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Nutritional Information

Per Serving

  • Calories: 263
  • Fat Content: 13.6g
  • Cholesterol Content: 38mg
  • Sodium Content: 64mg
  • Carbohydrate Content: 37.4g
  • Fiber Content: 0.2g
  • Sugar Content: 35.4g
  • Protein Content: 0.6g

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Brianna Shales
Brianna Shales
Brianna Shales
84 posts
Brianna joined the Stemilt family right after graduating from Washington State University (Go Cougs!) in 2007. She’s our chief communicator and writer of various fruit topics here on The Stem blog. Away from the office, Brianna is a mom of two young boys and former picky eater that has been transformed into a bit of a foodie thanks to her husband. Peaches are her favorite Stemilt fruit, but Piñata apples are a close second.

2 Comments. Leave new

  • Yvonne Quevedo
    Dec 12, 2017 6:01 pm

    Hi Brianna! I intend to make this caramel sauce Friday night, December 15….tonight I’ll need to buy the jars. Does each batch as listed in your recipe produce 6ozs, 8ozs, 12ozs, etc.? Can this recipe be doubled? Thanks!

    • Brianna Shales
      Dec 12, 2017 6:25 pm

      Hi Yvonne! I used 16 oz wide mouth Ball jars with this recipe. Each batch should make 12 oz, maybe a bit more, and would fit perfectly in a 16 oz to leave room at the top. I haven’t doubled it before, but you could certainly try. Just really watch the sugar/butter as it cooks so you get the perfect color of caramel. Also, my Mom made this last night with 4oz jars and each batch made 3! Good luck and enjoy!

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