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    Home • Recipes • Classic French Dishes

    Salted Caramel Sauce (Caramel au beurre salé)

    Published: Mar 23, 2022 · Modified: Jan 30, 2023 by Jill Colonna23 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Easy recipe for salted caramel sauce using the best method by French food scientist, Raphaël Haumont. Salt is a flavour enhancer which makes this sweet sauce deliciously addictive. Served warm, it's the best topping on all sorts of classic desserts.

    Pouring caramel

    Who Invented the Salted Caramel?

    Fans of salted caramel have Henri Le Roux to thank. He created the CBS® (Caramel au Beurre Salé) in 1977 in Quiberon, the location of his first chocolate shop in Brittany (Bretagne). Brittany is The French region where salted butter is added to most local specialities. In fact, salted butter is so important there, that last year we even spotted graffiti saying "Together Against Unsalted Butter!"

    Since Henri Le Roux invented it, salted caramel has been world famous, so he wisely registered it in 1981.

    So, who would have known that salted caramel is a recent discovery? Now Henri Le Roux is all around France and appreciated as one of the top chocolate shops in Paris, known as Caramélier.

    butter in a saucepan

    What is Salted Caramel Made Of?

    Caramel is made out of three ingredients: sugar, salted butter and cream.

    The French always use whipping or heavy cream (30% fat), not condensed milk. In this recipe, I prefer to use unsalted butter (due to varying qualities around the World which dose the salt differently). That way the salt is added separately and can be perfectly dosed.

    What's the difference between caramel and salted caramel?

    It's simple: salted caramel is made with either salted butter or with actual added salt. Speaking of which, please also use good quality butter. In this recipe I prefer to use good unsalted butter and dose the salt by adding separately at the end of cooking.

    Why do we Add Salt to Caramel?

    What is the point of salted caramel? It's a flavour enhancer and, as long as good quality is used, it works a treat. For the best type of salt, use French fleur de sel. Can't find French flower salt? Then Maldon or Celtic sea salt are also good.

    Does it taste salty?

    Well, there's a good dose of salt in the caramel sauce. So, as the caramel is particularly sweet, the salt just takes on an intriguingly addictive flavour to it. The resulting taste is simply sublime. It's sweet with salty undertones.

    pouring runny caramel sauce

    How to Make a Wet Caramel

    Salted caramel sauce is reputed to be quite difficult to make as it's quite finicky cooking the caramel first.

    To give you an idea of making a wet caramel, first see my video and recipe for Crème Caramel or Flan.

    Foolproof Easy Salted Caramel Recipe - Using Science!

    This recipe is the easiest method for making salted caramel sauce. The sauce's flavour is round and even creamier than the traditional way of caramelising the sugar first then adding the butter and cream afterwards.

    This recipe method comes from French food scientist, Raphaël Haumont.  I had the fortune of meeting him on the jury at the previous Amateur Pastry Competition run by Christophe and Julie Roussel in La Baule - he works with Thierry Marx and has even made Thomas Pesquet's favourite French classic food to be enjoyed in Space! To give you an idea of how Raphaël beautifully explains making caramel, see his video of Allo Docteur for La Magazine de la Santé (it's in French).

    By cooking the butter and sugar slowly together to create a caramel, it creates the Maillard reaction - whereby proteins in the butter react with the sugar molecules. If you love science and food, I recommend reading his fabulous books. Raphaël further explains caramelisation in his book, Les Couleurs de la Cuisine.

    How to Make Salted Caramel Sauce

    heating butter and sugar together

    • First heat the butter and sugar together, stirring constantly.
    • When the butter melts and sugar dissolves completely, the mixture begins to mousse.
    • Keep stirring as the mousse bubbles away until it starts to change colour and caramelise.

    butter and sugar moussing up in a saucepan

    • As soon as it turns a deep golden caramel colour, add the cream (I like to slightly warm the cream first but it's not crucial).
    • Continue stirring until the sauce blends well together and add the flower salt (fleur de sel).

    making caramel sauce

    How Do You Thicken It?

    This salted caramel sauce naturally thickens as it cools and when stored in the fridge. However, if you think that your sauce is a bit too runny, just simmer for a further 5-10 minutes.

    pouring caramel into 2 pots

    What Goes with Salted Caramel?

    Salted caramel sauce is best served warm. So, when ready to serve, spoon into a small pouring jug and reheat. Either reheat gently for a few seconds in the microwave or over a gentle heat for a few minutes in a saucepan. It goes so well with most seasonal winter desserts such as the following, including chocolate desserts:

    • Dribble or zig-zag it over ice cream, waffles, or profiteroles (recipes in my book, Teatime in Paris).
    • Great as a topping on French crêpes and rice pudding;
    • Serve with chocolate ginger fondant cake or lava cakes;
    • Delicious with any kind of apple desserts;
    • Spoon on simple slices of tart apple (e.g. Granny Smith). The resulting taste with the salt and acidity of the apple is divine;
    • Pour on French apple nougat tart, apple crumble cake, and this apple custard tart.
    • Delicious with pear desserts: such as poached vanilla pears, chocolate pear fondant cake - plus be daring adding a little to a Pear Belle Hélène on top of the chocolate sauce.

    Spooning caramel sauce on apple tart

    How Long Does the Sauce Last?

    Not only is it a handy sauce for all sorts of desserts, the bonus is that this salted caramel keeps for 3 weeks or up to a month if sealed well in the refrigerator. However, if truth be told, it doesn't stay for long in our house.

    It's not just handy keeping in the fridge as a sauce - but if you have a batch already made, it's so much quicker to make this Tarte Tatin.

    pot of salted caramel sauce with an apple tart

    Different Salted Caramel Flavours

    Add your own touch of additional flavours to the caramel, to accompany or personalise your desserts. Add at the end of cooking, after adding the cream once the sauce comes together. Here are a few ideas:

    • Vanilla: scrape out the seeds of a vanilla bean/pod or ¼ teaspoon of vanilla powder or good quality extract;
    • Coffee: Add a tablespoon of granulated coffee to the caramel for a perfumed coffee caramel;
    • Citrus: Add the zest of an orange for extra zing - or excellent with limes, kumquats or lemon.
    pot of salted caramel sauce with an apple tart

    Salted Caramel Sauce

    Jill Colonna
    Best foolproof recipe for salted caramel sauce using a scientific method by food scientist, Raphaël Haumont. Served warm, it's a great topping on all sorts of classic French chocolate, apple and pear desserts and on crêpes, ice cream, waffles, profiteroles plus rice pudding.
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 5 minutes mins
    Cook Time 20 minutes mins
    Total Time 25 minutes mins
    Course Condiments
    Cuisine French
    Servings 8 people
    Calories 199 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    • 140 g (5oz/¾ cup) granulated sugar
    • 75 g (3oz/1/3 cup) unsalted butter good quality
    • 150 g (5.5oz/¾ cup) whipping cream 30% fat (crème fleurette) warmed
    • ½ teaspoon 'fleur de sel' salt (or Maldon, Celtic sea salt)

    Instructions
     

    • Weigh both the butter (chop up roughly) and sugar directly into a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
      Weigh the cream in another pan, heat gently and set aside. Alternatively, heat in a glass in the microwave for 30 seconds (do not boil).
    • Using a wooden spoon, stir both the butter and sugar constantly over a medium heat until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolves.  The mixture should start to foam and bubble gently. Keep stirring until they turn a more golden, caramel colour - it should also start to smell like caramel.
      This should take about 10 minutes maximum.
    • As soon as the butter/sugar are a nice deep golden/straw caramel colour (don't wait until it's amber, otherwise the sauce will be bitter), add the warm cream, stirring constantly. Turn down the heat, keep stirring until thickened and add the salt. After about 5 minutes pour directly into a sauce jug or into sterilised jam jars. Leave to cool then seal.

    Notes

    Consistency: The sauce will thicken as it cools and will harden when stored in the fridge. When ready to serve, heat for a few seconds in the microwave.
    If you like your caramel sauce more runny, add more cream.
    To thicken the sauce even more, reduce by simmering for another 5-10 minutes.
    Butter: I use unsalted butter in this recipe as good quality salted butter can be difficult to find outside of France. If you do have access to quality salted butter from Normandy or Brittany, then use it and omit the extra salt.
    How Long Can the Sauce Keep? The caramel can last for 3 weeks or up to a month if stored in a sterilised sealed jar in the fridge.
    Method of Cooking: This alternative approach to cooking the salted caramel sauce is thanks to food scientist, Raphaël Haumont. However, if you prefer to use the classic method, then first make a caramel by stirring the sugar with a tablespoon of water in a pan.  Over a medium heat without stirring, leave until a caramel forms (about 10 minutes) then as soon as a golden caramel forms, lower the heat and add the butter then the warmed cream.
    Measures: Please note that all my recipes are best made using digital kitchen scales in precise metric grams. Both ounces (and cups) are given as a guide. 
    Keyword salted caramel sauce

    This post was first published 23 February 2011 but is now completely updated with more explicit step-by-step instructions, new images and a different method of initially cooking the sugar and butter together.

     

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    Meet Jill Colonna

    Jill is both Scottish and French and author of the book and blog, Mad About Macarons since 2010. Here she shares over 30 years of experience of living the healthy food life with her French family in Paris - via easy recipes and local food guides in France.

    More about Jill

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      Made this? Rate this recipe...




    1. Pascal

      March 23, 2022 at 10:54 pm

      5 stars
      Incredibly delicious and so versatile
      Don’t know of anyone who does not LOVE it
      Thank you for the post !

      Reply
      • Jill Colonna

        March 24, 2022 at 2:56 pm

        Versatile it certainly is, Pascal. I think it goes with anything sweet, really! Thanks for popping in.

        Reply
    2. thoma

      January 31, 2012 at 7:29 am

      this is truly as you said: a life saver on any plain dessert! and much to the delight of conventional taste!

      Reply
    3. Pauline

      November 26, 2011 at 9:47 pm

      Has been my pleasurable downfall all of 2011, glad to see others succumbIng, off to the fridge now.....

      Reply
    4. My Wandering Spoon

      November 24, 2011 at 5:52 am

      My husband loves caramel I have to try the recipe. It is so trendy now caramel and salt....yummy, Looks so delicious. Thanks for sharing:)

      Reply
    5. Becky

      November 23, 2011 at 1:49 am

      This caramel sauce would be wonderful drizzled on brownies, too, the possibilities are endless. I have to make this, soon.

      Reply
    6. Rachel @ My Naturally Frugal Family

      November 22, 2011 at 7:31 pm

      Oh Jill this looks so very fantastic. I don't know if it requires anything other then a spoon to eat it with. However a nice bowl of vanilla bean ice cream would be pretty tasty.
      It is days like today, when I see this recipe, that I know why I am always all over your blog.

      Reply
    7. Carolyn

      November 22, 2011 at 11:53 am

      Yum! Actually promised my husband to make salted caramel hot chocolate, so I would definitely use your recipe!

      Reply
    8. Kim Bee

      November 22, 2011 at 5:44 am

      See it's stuff like this that makes me stalk you. So fabulous! I plan on covering everything in caramel sauce. Look out world.

      Reply
    9. Anne@frommysweetheart

      November 22, 2011 at 5:02 am

      Jill...I don't need to drizzle this over anything. I just need a spoon!!! Caramel sauce is a basic necessity for me. And this looks exceptional! A must have in my fridge at all times! : )

      Reply
    10. The Mom Chef ~ Taking on Magazines One Recipe at a Time

      November 22, 2011 at 3:23 am

      I will have to be strong and stay as far away from this as I can. Caramel is my chocolate. It beckons to me if it is anywhere near. This looks amazing.

      Reply
    11. Tina@flourtrader

      November 22, 2011 at 12:27 am

      Jill-with all these delicious sauces, I am going to think my desserts are naked without them! This is a great one to have on hand for the holidays-yum!

      Reply
    12. Jessica | Oh Cake

      November 21, 2011 at 10:54 pm

      I go gaga for salted caramel. When I read the passionfruit caramel option I just about drooled on the keyboard. Oh. My. Goodness. What a delicious post!

      Reply
    13. Kiri W.

      November 21, 2011 at 8:46 pm

      Oh wow. Major craving alarm! I love salted caramel, and I actually have never had it in sauce form. I think I'd douse almost anything in this 🙂

      Reply
    14. Deeba

      March 22, 2011 at 10:52 am

      GREAT IDEA!! Love how simple and quick the recipe is!

      Reply
    15. Eftychia

      March 02, 2011 at 5:18 pm

      So delicious. I wish I could have a bite. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us!

      Reply
    16. Sheelagh

      February 24, 2011 at 11:59 pm

      Oh yum! One of my favourite dessert sauces, so versatile with anything from apples to ice-cream. Love the long shelf life too, although it wouldn't last a week in my fridge!

      Reply
    17. Treat and Trick

      February 24, 2011 at 3:19 pm

      Looking at the photo, I can imagine how tasty that sauce was..Thanks for sharing dear...

      Reply

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