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Sauce: Salted Butter Caramel Sauce

Source of Recipe

From "The Perfect Scoop" by David Lebovitz


Recipe Introduction

"We all need heroes in life. Someone to look up to, whom you idolize, and who does something that changes your life forever. For me, that person is Henri Le Roux, maker of caramel-butter-salt caramels (nicknamed CBS) in the seaside town of Quiberon, on the Atlantic coast of France. The residents of Brittany are famous for consuming ridiculous amounts of butter, most of it heavily flecked with sea salt to preserve and complement its buttery goodness. When Monsieur Le Roux unwrapped one of his meltingly tender salted caramels and popped it in my mouth, I knew I'd found my hero. To get the same flavor in this sauce, be sure to use a good-quality kosher or sea salt, such as fleur de sel, recognizable by its delicate, shimmering crystals. It makes a difference."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 cup heavy cream
â—¦ 6 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted
â—¦ ¾ cup sugar
â—¦ ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
â—¦ 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher or flaky sea salt


Recipe

Warm the cream in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large, deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven. Add the sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar is a deep golden brown and starts to smoke.

Remove from the heat and immediately whisk in half of the cream until smooth (wear an oven mitt, because the mixture will steam and splatter and may bubble up furiously). Stir in the rest of the cream, then the vanilla and salt. If there are any lumps of caramel, whisk the sauce gently over low heat until smooth. Serve warm.

Makes 1 ½ cups