Salted Caramel Sauce

Some of you may be shocked by this - but if you know me well enough, it's not a surprise - I love ice cream. I love most sweet things. I also enjoy salty things. Give me a bag of chips and I'll leave you alone for a while (when I spotted this on kottke, I was a little disappointed - full disclosure, I have been caught salting Frito's - in Frito-Lay's decision to change the kind of salt they use on their chip products).

Anyway, here's a recipe from the Amateur Gourmet for a Salted Caramel Sauce, which he proclaims good for dipping apples in as well as pouring over ice cream (though I still enjoy NJM's fudge sauce for that).

Salted Caramel Sauce
Summary from Adam Roberts on his blog post (linked above)
Here's a one-pot dessert sauce that, with a tub of good vanilla ice cream (I like Häagen-Dazs), will transform your entire weekend. It's salty, it's sticky, it's sweet and it takes just a few minutes.

The only thing that might give you pause is that making caramel can be a little scary. Essentially, you're melting sugar and cooking it until it takes on a deep, complex flavor - it'll turn a dark golden color - that is at its absolute best just before it burns. But you don't want it to burn because burnt caramel, like burnt garlic, cannot be rescued. Therefore, you have to cook it carefully. [emphasis added - Brave Astronaut]

Also, not to scare you, but you can really burn yourself. So be very cautious. Imagine the hottest substance you can imagine and then imagine if that substance were sticky. That's what you have when you're cooking caramel so don't do this around small children or those with uncontrollable spasms or small children with uncontrollable spasms. It won't be a pretty picture. [emphasis added - Brave Astronaut]

That said, if you attack this with confidence, it'll come together in a jiffy. And just in case I didn't sell you on the sauce enough, anyone who likes things salty and sweet will be quickly won over. And it lasts a really long time in the fridge (we had this for dessert on ice cream on many many nights).

Salted Caramel Sauce
by Zoe Nathan from Food & Wine Magazine

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons gray sea salt, crushed (<--I really used this, because I had it, and I won't say it made the difference, but it's possible that it did.)
  

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup and bring to a boil.

Using a wet pastry brush, wash down any crystals on the side of the pan. Boil over high heat until a deep amber caramel forms, about 6 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream, butter and salt. Let the caramel cool to room temperature.

Covered in the fridge, it'll last two weeks. If it gets too thick, add a spoonful of very hot water (from the tap) and whisk until smooth.