Skip to main content

Smoky Caramel Sauce

Surprise, a touch of bottled smoke is the easy route to burnt sugar flavor in caramel sauce. This melt-and-stir cheater sauce eliminates the intimidating and time-consuming step of caramelizing sugar—cooking white sugar slowly in a skillet until it turns toasty brown.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon bottled smoke
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    COMBINE all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and creamy.

  2. Variations

    Step 2

    Toasted pound cake with ice cream and caramel sauce. Add sliced fresh peaches, bananas, or pecans, if you like.

    Step 3

    Banana caramel sundaes with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, sliced bananas, and toasted nuts.

    Step 4

    Turtle brownie sundaes with ice cream and caramel sauce.

    Step 5

    Vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce topped with bits of crystallized ginger.

    Step 6

    Stir a couple tablespoons of spiced rum, bourbon, Tennessee whiskey, or Scotch whisky into the sauce and serve over ice cream.

Cheater BBQ
Read More
Like miso-peanut hibachi chicken and spring orzotto.
Keep this easy frittata recipe on hand for quick breakfasts, impressive brunches, and fridge clean-out meals.
A crowd-friendly, crisp-edged chicken and vegetable rice from chef José Andrés.
Like José Andrés’s paella and not one but two chicken stir-fries.
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
A flurry of fresh tarragon makes this speedy weeknight dish of seared cod and luscious, sun-colored pan sauce feel restaurant worthy.
This one-pot dinner cooks chicken thighs directly on top of a bed of flavorful cilantro rice studded with black beans for a complete dinner.
The magic of this hibachi chicken recipe comes from a combination of miso and peanut butter and how it beautifully caramelizes when it hits the grill.