This 5 ingredient Wet Caramel sauce is perfect to top your ice cream, cakes, or brownies with. It comes together perfectly, and tastes amazing!
There is nothing like caramel sauce topped on your favorite ice cream, brownies, or cakes! This Wet Caramel has 5 ingredients and is ready in less than 15 minutes. By following the tips and instructions, you'll end up with a delicious, tasty caramel that you can enjoy with your favorite baked goods, or simply by eating it off the spoon!
What is the difference between wet and dry caramel?
The main difference is the use of water in the wet caramel. With wet caramel, you mix water and sugar and let it dissolve, then you let it sit and cook without touching it. With dry caramel, you cook it without any liquid and you stir it constantly until it dissolves and turns into an amber color. I personally find wet caramel to be the safer bet because with dry caramel, there's a risk of burning the sugar if you're not careful. Wet caramel takes a little longer, but it works like a charm. Both are delicious, but I learned how to make the wet caramel before the dry, so it's my go-to!
Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Delicious: It's such a good recipe, and you have the option of adding the salt, which I highly recommend. You can leave the salt out if you don't want.
- No candy thermometer: You don't need a thermometer to check the temperature of the sugar. You just eyeball it until it reaches an amber color!
Jump to:
Ingredients You'll Need
- Granulated sugar: I've used granulated sugar as well as caster sugar and both work well.
- Water: Just a ¼ of a cup of water. It doesn't need to be a certain temperature.
- Heavy cream: Make sure your heavy cream is at room temperature.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter and make sure it's at room temperature.
- Salt: I LOVE adding salt to my wet caramel sauce because it has such a wonderful salted caramel flavor. This ingredient is optional.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Wet Caramel
- Combine water & sugar: Stir the sugar and water in a pot until it's combined and there are no sugar lumps.
- Place on heat: Place the pot on medium heat, and let it dissolve. Leave the mixture and DO NOT stir, otherwise it will crystalize.
- To avoid crystallization: Use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush away the sides of the pot to melt sugar crystals above the water line. You may need to do this a few times.
- Let sugar cook: it will start to bubble up and slowly change colors. This could take some time, but keep a watch on it because it could burn very fast once it starts to change.
- Swirl the pan around: When you start seeing color around the edges, at this point I like to take the handle of the pot and give it a quick swirl so that the caramel color starts becoming even all around. At this point, it will start to turn pretty quick so keep a close eye on it.
- Add heavy cream: Once it reaches desired color (an amber color is good. Any darker and it could become bitter), remove the pan from the heat and slowly add the room temperature heavy cream, and whisk as you pour the cream (don't add too quickly, otherwise it could seize). Whisk until it all comes together and smooth. Place it back on the heat and let it cook, while whisking, for another minute.
- Remove from heat & add butter: Once heavy cream is mixed in, add room temperature butter and the salt, and continue whisking until incorporated and melted into the caramel
Pour into a jar or container and let cool.
Hint: Use a pastry brush dipped in water to remove any sugar crystals above the water line.
Equipment
- Sauce pan
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Pastry brush
Storage
Cover and store caramel in the refrigerator. To use, reheat small amounts, or all if using it all at once. You can reheat in the microwave in 30 second increments until desired consistency.
Pro Tips
- Mix before heating: Make sure to stir the water and sugar together before adding it to the heat.
- Don't stir: Once placed on the heat, DO NOT stir or touch the caramel sauce.
- Brush sides: Use a pastry brush dipped in water to remove any sugar crystals above the water line.
- Whisk: If caramel starts to seize after adding heavy cream, keep stirring/whisking over the heat and it should break apart and thin out.
- Fix crystallization: If you end up with crystalized sugar, you can fix it by adding a little water and allowing it to dissolve, then continue with the recipe.
FAQ
The main difference is the use of water in the wet caramel. With wet caramel, you mix water and sugar and let it dissolve, then you let it sit and cook without touching it. With dry caramel, you cook it without any liquid and you stir it constantly until it dissolves and turns into an amber color. I personally find wet caramel to be the safer bet because with dry caramel, there's a risk of burning the sugar if you're not careful. Wet caramel takes a little longer, but it works like a charm. Both are delicious, but I learned how to make the wet caramel before the dry, so it's my go-to!
If your sugar crystalizes, add a little water and let it dissolve and continue with the recipe.
It's possible the caramel didn't cook enough, so if it's still runny after it cools completely, add it to a sauce pan over medium heat and let it cook. This should help it thicken because it's evaporating more liquid.
It could be caused by two things: adding cold heavy cream, or adding heavy cream too quickly. Make sure the heavy cream is room temperature, and add the heavy cream slowly and whisking as you add the heavy cream. If the caramel has seized, place it on the heat and whisk until it gets smooth again.
Recipes to Try with Caramel Sauce
📖 Recipe Card
Wet Caramel
Equipment
- 1 sauce pan
- 1 whisk
- 1 pastry brush
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup heavy cream room temperature
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ teaspoon salt optional
Instructions
- Combine water & sugar: Stir the sugar and water in a sauce pan until it's combined and there are no sugar lumps.
- Place on heat: Place the pan on medium heat, and let it dissolve. Leave the mixture and DO NOT stir, otherwise it will crystalize.
- To avoid crystallization: Use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush away the sides of the pan to melt sugar crystals above the water line.
- Let sugar cook: it will start to bubble up and slowly change colors. This could take some time, but keep a watch on it because it could burn very fast once it starts to change
- Swirl the pan around: When you start seeing color around the edges, at this point I like to take the handle of the pan and give it a quick swirl so that the caramel color starts becoming even all around. At this point, it will start to turn pretty quick so keep a close eye on it.
- Add heavy cream: Once it reaches desired color (an amber color is good. Any darker and it could become bitter), remove the pan from the heat and slowly add the room temperature heavy cream, and whisk as you pour the cream (don't add too quickly, otherwise it could seize). Whisk until it all comes together and smooth. Place it back on the heat and let it cook, while whisking, for another minute.
- Remove from heat & add butter: Once heavy cream is mixed in, add room temperature butter and the salt, and continue whisking until incorporated and melted into the caramel
- Pour into jar or container and let cool.
- Store: Cover and store in the refrigerator. To use, reheat small amounts, or all if using it all at once. You can reheat in the microwave in 30 second increments.
Notes
- Make sure to stir the water and sugar together before adding it to the heat.
- Once placed on the heat, DO NOT stir or touch the caramel sauce.
- Use a pastry brush dipped in water to remove any sugar crystals above the water line.
- If caramel starts to seize after adding heavy cream, keep stirring/whisking over the heat and it should break apart and thin out.
- If you end up with crystalized sugar, you can fix it by adding a little water and allowing it to dissolve, then continue with the process.
This recipe was easy to follow. I appreciate the steps and the extra tips. My caramel started to seize when I added the heavy cream too quickly, but thankfully it all came together once I whisked it over the heat. The result was so delicious.
I'm so glad you found the tips helpful! Thank you for the wonderful review! 🙂
I whisked in heavy cream.slwly and still had some crystallization...I placed back on heat and all did not dissolve...i decided to sift out the sugar crystals...next time, do I add water to caramel & place back on heat to dissolve crystals?
Hi Cheryl, thanks for trying out the recipe. Are you making sure to stir the sugar and water together so that the sugar dissolves into the water before turning on the heat? It's always a good idea to have a pastry brush and a bowl of water next to you to brush the sides of the pan so that no sugar crystals stick to the sides, which can cause crystallization. I've also had much better success using heavy bottom stainless steel pans as opposed to non-stick. Lastly, if you're having troubles when adding the cream, you could try warming the cream a little before adding it. I hope you give this recipe another try! Thanks for the feedback.