John Myers
Whether for desserts, cakes, or as a decoration for a delicious ice cream: Caramel is versatile and can be easily made at home. Try it yourself with our guide and tips.
Caramel: few ingredients, sweet pleasure
To make caramel, you first need one important ingredient: sugar. Because that’s what caramel is made of in the first place. You can then add other ingredients such as water, butter, and cream to the sugar for different consistencies. Making liquid or creamy caramel yourself is therefore not a problem. Do you prefer a specific flavor – salted caramel, for example? Then just mix in a bit of sea salt at the end. This is how you can make salted caramel yourself. This also works with other notes, for example with a dash of vanilla aroma or rum.
Making caramel: quick and easy
For the preparation, distribute about 100 g of sugar evenly in a saucepan and heat it very carefully on a low to medium level. This way you can ensure that the sugar melts slowly without burning. It’s important not to stir during this step. Because the sugar has to caramelize in peace.
As the sugar melts, it slowly turns brown. The browner you let the sugar become, the more bitter the caramel will taste in the end. When the sugar is completely melted, you can add other ingredients to taste and mix in. Add 2 tablespoons of water to make the caramel runnier, butter and cream are recommended for a creamy consistency. In this case, take 25 g of butter and 100 g of cream. If lumps form, simply continue to cook the mixture and stir until they dissolve. Caramel cream can also be made from sweetened condensed milk, but this variant requires a different preparation.
Vary your homemade caramel
Finally, add your favorite flavor ingredients. For example, for salted caramel, use a teaspoon of sea salt. If your caramel is ready and still hot and runny, you can process it directly – and drizzle it over delicious ice cream, for example. Alternatively, you can pour the cream onto oiled aluminum foil and leave to cool there. Be careful if you make caramel yourself: Since sugar gets very hot very quickly, you should never try the mass when it is hot. There is a risk of burns.
Give delicious recipes with homemade caramel the right kick
Caramel is the perfect topping for some desserts or a delicious scoop of ice cream. Do you already know our dulce de leche recipe from Latin America? Bread with creamy caramel simply tastes heavenly. Also, try our sweet caramel popcorn or our hazelnut caramel cake.
