Salted Caramel

I wish I had a picture of this. It was my first attempt at caramel and while it wasn't a perfect process, the result was fantastic.

The only major concern is not to overdue the sugar and burn it, which is very easy. I could have left the sugar over the heat for a little longer to bring out the flavor a bit more but the result was a light soft caramel with the hint of sea salt, and that worked perfect for what I needed it for in the first place.


Ingredients

2 cups granulated sugar
12 tbs butter, unsalted
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbs fleur de sel (sea salt)


Directions

1. Add the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Begin to whisk as soon as the sugar begins to melt. Once the sugar fully melts, stop whisking. This is where I went wrong according to the interweb and continued to add air into the sugar. A swirl in the pan is sufficient once the sugar is melted.
2. Cook the sugar until it starts to reach a dark amber color. I cooked it to a light amber color and it worked alright. If you have a candy thermometer you want it to reach 350F and then move onto the next step. Any temperature higher than 350F and you might burn the sugar.
3. Add the butter all at once, the sugar will bubble and boil over if the pan is not large enough. Whisk in the butter until fully melted and combined.
4. Remove from the heat and slowly add the heavy cream into the caramel. Watch out for another boil over. Whisk until you have a smooth sauce and add the sea salt.
5. Let cool for about 20 minutes at least before using.  You can use this in a liquid form if you keep it slightly above room temperature or a sauce over ice cream or some other dessert. You can firm it up in the refrigerator for a few hours if you want a harder caramel to work with. I mixed it in a 50/50 chocolate sauce to make a chocolate salted caramel truffle and caramel filled cupcakes (coming soon).