I love homemade caramel. As evidence of that, you can find apple cider caramel, whiskey caramel, salted caramel, and salted caramel pastry cream here on the blog. Every time I make one I exclaim about how much I love it and wonder why I don’t make it more often. There are so many caramel possibilities, and rather than try just one, I want every type to have their time to shine. Today, that type is maple caramel sauce.
This maple caramel sauce is a slice of fall heaven. The delicious caramel flavor intermingles with pure maple syrup to bring out an amazing sauce for the season. I seriously was eating it by the spoonful. So. Delicious. This is what I imagine would be served with pancakes and coffee on a crisp New England morning, made with maple syrup straight from the tree. Obviously that isn’t how I experienced it in muggy North Carolina, but nevertheless, that’s where my mind went and I chose to go with it. I mean, can you imagine this on pancakes?! Someone in my fall fantasyland got it right.
I joke, but maple caramel sauce is so versatile. Pour it over ice cream, mix it with some caramel, layer it in a cake, swirl it in brownies, stir it in your coffee, or, you guessed it, serve it with your pancakes ;) I’m excited to share another fun way to use it soon, but until then, cook it up and pour it on everything!
Maple Caramel Sauce
½ cup pure maple syrup
½ cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup heavy cream
¾ teaspoon sea salt
In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the maple syrup and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stir frequently. This should take 6-10 minutes.
Stir in the butter, one tablespoon at a time, stirring frequently. The butter will bubble as it hits the hot sugar-syrup mixture. Continue to heat for another 2 minutes, stirring a few times.
Pour in the cream and sea salt and cook for another 10-15 minutes, continuing to stir a few times a minute. You can make this as thin or thick as you like, but the caramel is done cooking when it becomes thick and doesn’t slide off of a spoon. If you prefer thinner caramel, reduce the cooking time. I cooked mine for the full 15 minutes and the resulting caramel was deliciously thick.
When the caramel is done, let it cool for a few minutes in the pot before transferring it to a jar. If the sauce thickens too much, reheat it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time.
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