Easy Four Ingredient Irish Cream Caramel Sauce

Making caramel sauce may seem like something that is really difficult or something that can only be purchased in the store but I’m here to tell you that it is super simple and can definitely be made at home! Caramel is made up of only three basic ingredients: sugar, butter, and heavy whipping cream. That’s all it takes to make delicious, drippy, sweet caramel sauce. To make this sauce a little bit different (and a little bit better) we’re also going to be adding Irish Cream liqueur. The flavor from the Irish Cream Liqueur adds a super unique, delicious sweet and nutty flavor to the caramel sauce!

All you need to make the sauce is a pot, a whisk and a container to store it! I like to store my sauce in squeeze bottles or glass jars. No special equipment needed! When working with sugar it’s important to not stir during the melting process. Stirring can create crystallization and nobody wants a crispy caramel sauce. Now, the good thing about caramel is that once you’ve melted your sugar down far enough, that crystallization will go away, but it is better to just avoid it in the first place. If you do see some crystallization in your pot, don’t panic! You shouldn’t need to start over, just make sure that your caramel gets nice and melted before you add in the rest of your ingredients.

How to make the sauce

To make the caramel sauce, place your sugar in a pot and add a quarter cup of water. Water helps the sugar to evenly caramelize so that you don’t get burnt spots and undercooked spots in your sugar. You can absolutely make caramel without the water, you just need to be careful and keep a close eye on it. I always add the water as a little bit of a safety net so that I don’t have to remake it.

Now that your sugar and water is in the pot, turn your heat up to medium high and boil until a syrup forms and the bubbles start to get thicker. You will see a visible difference in the way the bubbles form and pop on the top of the surface. Keep a very close eye on your pot the whole time because you don’t want to burn your sugar. Once you see the change in the bubbles, you’ll be very close to creating caramel. Keep the heat going until you start to see the color change. You’re looking for a medium to light brown caramelization on your plain sugar. Once you see that caramelization taking place, turn the heat off. The sugar syrup will continue to cook without the heat. Molten sugar is EXTREMELY hot so be very careful not to touch it.

While the mixture is still very hot quickly add in your butter and whisk aggressively to mix in the butter to the hot sugar. This will bubble up and steam, don’t be scared! Once the butter is mixed in, pour in the heavy whipping cream and whisk, whisk, whisk! The cream will also bubble and boil, but should mix in to create a homogenous creamy sauce. If you see some lumps and bumps, keep stirring. It will all come together into a smooth creamy sauce, I promise! Now that your sauce is made, allow it to cool for a few minutes because it’s still going to be very, very hot. Transfer to your storage container or squeeze bottle and allow to cool to room temperature to drizzle and use on your desserts!

Try with these other delicious recipes

Irish Cream Caramel Sauce

Sticky sweet caramel sauce made with Irish Cream liqueur.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert, Sauce

Cuisine Dessert

Servings 1.5 Cups

Ingredients

  

• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• ¼ Cup Water
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• ⅓ Cup Heavy Cream
• ⅓ Cup Irish Cream Liqueur I used Bailey's

Instructions

 

• In a small sauce pot over medium heat, melt together the sugar and water. Keep an eye on this mixture but do not stir! Let it boil until a syrup forms and begins to turn a light caramel brown color. Depending on your stove this should take anywhere from 7-15 minutes, just keep an eye for the color change.
• When you have a light caramel colored syrup, remove from the heat and stir in the butter. The caramel will bubble up and steam so be careful!
• After the butter is mixed in, add in the heavy cream and Irish Cream. This will bubble up again but keep stirring until everything is combined.
• The mixture will be very hot so allow it to cool before using then store in a plastic or glass container. This can be stored for several weeks in the refrigerator!
• To reheat for easy pouring, heat up some water in a pot until it is warm to the touch. Float your container of caramel in the warm water for a few minutes until it is soft and pourable. Make sure the lid is water tight!

Keyword Baileys, Caramel, Dessert, Irish Cream, Syrup

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