Sometimes, late at night you need a snack.

A sweet treat.

Or at least I do. For this reason, I now always have homemade caramel sauce on hand. It lasts forever in the fridge and is good with everything. Literally. I whip it out for pies, it has a transcendent effect on green apples, and it elevates the humble scoop of ice cream into something extraordinary. (I also always have vanilla ice cream and nuts on hand.)

It is versatile beyond belief - name something that isn't better with caramel, I dare you.

That's right. You can't.

Also, perhaps best of all, it is incredibly easy to make and you only need three ingredients to make it. You already have two of those ingredients, so go buy some cream, get that stove top cranking, and make all of your late-night sugar-crazed dreams come true.

Caramel Sauce

Helpful hints:

Now, I say that caramel sauce is exceptionally easy - and it is - but it does take a little bit of attention. Don't walk away and take a shower while your sugar is caramelizing.

Use a heavy bottomed stainless steel saucepan for this. You don't need a huge pot, but do remember that boiling hot sugar reacts when it meets liquid (especially cold liquid). So take into account the bubble up/steam factor.

I like to use an exoglass spatula for hot hot sugar. They're good at handling high heat and they're also stiff, so they're super effective at breaking up little bits of caramel stuck to the bottom of your pot (occasionally happens if you add the liquid too quickly). If you don't have one, buy one, because they're great, but if you don't want to buy one, you could use a wooden spoon as well. Make sure your wooden spoon doesn't smell like garlic. You can also use a high-heat silicone spatula, which I don't love because they're floppy scrapers, but in a pinch...

Finally - don't panic, and don't be scared, but DO be aware and careful. Boiling sugar, while delicious and amazing is also so so so so so so so painful if it gets onto your skin. This is not a project to do with small children. Do it after they go to sleep. Do not let your boyfriend "lick the spoon" - he will lose his tongue. Make sure your dog is not in a position to trip you while this is on the stove.

Onto the recipe!

300g heavy cream (or pure cream - no creams with stabilizers or other additives) - tempered is best, but not a deal breaker
300g granulated sugar
4g salt

Heat the saucepan over medium heat and add enough sugar to coat the bottom of the pan. As it begins to melt, stir and continue to add small amounts of sugar, sprinkling it in an even layer over the melted sugar. Stir to dissolve. Continue, until all of the sugar is sprinkled, and you've stirred to dissolve all of it.
Most likely your melted sugar will have taken on a light golden amber color by this point. Continue to occasionally stir (when I say stir, I don't mean vigorously, I mean, move the melted sugar around the pan so that it redistributes itself evenly over hotspots and etc.) and adjust the heat - I don't like my caramels to go too fast because I'm a control freak and so I usually settle for medium low. That being said, don't let the caramel get cool (like turn off the heat, walk away to do something, then restart the project ) because it might crystallize. Just keep cruising on "hot enough."
Once your sugar has turned a deep amber and you begin to see a little smoke coming off the top, and your nose goes "oh no, did I burn it?!" that is the time to add the cream. The depth of flavor that comes with taking the caramel a step before actually burning it is amazing, and you don't want to sell your caramel sauce short. Once you are at that level immediately take the sugar off the heat source. The caramel will continue to cook and get darker and possibly burn, even after it is taken off the heat - basically until you add the cream, so you really need to move efficiently at this point.
Hopefully you've had time to temper (leave your cream out at room temp to reduce the extreme chill that comes from being in a fridge) your cream, or if you like, you can GENTLY heat it. Once the sugar is off the heat you want to start to get that cream in ASAP. Use one hand to slowly stream the cream into the sugar, while stirring the sugar with the other hand. There will be a lot of steam. Please don't burn yourself. The sugar will also boil up and will look like it's seizing and be weird and scary for a minute. Just remain calm and keep adding the cream and stirring. If, for some reason, your sauce does seize and there are rock hard chunks of sugar and the liquid cream is still unincorporated, you can return the saucepan to the stove and heat over low heat, stirring, until everything comes together.
Finally, stir in the salt. I like my caramel on the saltier side, but if you don't just add less. I let my caramel cool in the pot for a bit (until is isn't molten), then scrape it into a jar, which I leave open til the caramel cools completely, then into the fridge.

That's it! Caramel done! I know it seems like quite a process, but that's just because I like details, and I want you all to win at caramel-sauce-making. This caramel sauce is delicious straight from the fridge, although undoubtedly thick. It is perfect for dipping green apple slices into. If you want a drizzle consistency (think sundaes, sauce for sweet empanadas) you can heat it gently. We don't have a microwave so I just stick the jar in some hot water and stir it until it is the consistency I desire.