How to Make Caramel Sauce in 3 Simple Steps
If you want to upgrade your desserts and make them more appealing and colorful, caramel sauce could be one of your very best options, especially if you’re making things like flan, crème caramel, or even pancakes. And the best thing is that you don’t need to buy it in a store. You can just make it at home: it’s easy and quick to prepare.
5-Minute Crafts will show you a recipe that will take you less than 30 minutes to prepare and that prevents the caramel from becoming hard once it cools down.
Ingredients (for 120 ml or about half a cup)
- ½ cup of white sugar
- 4 tbsp of cold water
- ¼ cup of boiled water
- 1 tsp of lemon juice
Step 1
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Pour the sugar, the 4 tablespoons of water, and the teaspoon of lemon juice into a pot that is easy to handle and that is stable. We recommend using a light colored pot so that you can easily see how the color of the caramel changes.
Step 2
- Stir until the sugar melts a bit and bring to a boil over low heat. You will soon see that the sugar starts to caramelize. Bear in mind that the darker the color of the sugar is, the more your sauce will taste toasted.
- Be careful when handling the sugar. Do not stir or taste the caramel sauce at this point. Sugar can reach such a high temperature that it could easily burn you.
- This step can take a few more minutes if you’re using an electric stove.
Step 3
- When the sugar is finally caramelizing, put the hot water bowl in the microwave and bring it to a boil. (Or you could just bring the water to a boil in another pan on the stove.)
- Turn the pan’s heat off and pour the boiling water, very slowly and carefully, into the melted sugar. Mix by moving the whole pot to stir the melted sugar from side to side instead of using a spoon.
- Let it rest for a few minutes until it cools down.
- In case the resulting caramel sauce hardens after waiting or once it cools down, add about 10 or 20 ml of boiling water and stir in the same way as before.
A few tips and suggestions
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Enjoy your caramel sauce and use it to top puddings, crêpes, or desserts in general.
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To preserve it, pour it into a ceramic or glass container and store it in the refrigerator. It can last for up to a month.