Salted caramel sauce

I just made the most delicious salted caramel sauce.  Granted it was part of another recipe that I'm working on now, but it's just so tasty, and has so many uses, that I decided it needed it's own post (truth be told, so did the original blogger, so I'm not that far off).

Hell, this would probably go really well on ice cream, maybe even with some of that coffee syrup I made earlier today.  Oh man, I might be onto something!  A caramel macchiato ice cream sundae?  How awesome would that be?!

I didn't have fancy salt at home, so I used regular salt, but cut down on the amount.  It came out perfectly salty and sweet and gooey and awesome!  I keep going back into the kitchen to taste a spoonful, and I'm not a huge caramel fan.  Although B is, and when he gets home from work today, I think he might just love me a little bit more ;-)

I actually cut the recipe in half because I only needed it for a cupcake recipe, but I'm really regretting that now...

Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce
From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:

2 cups granulated sugar
12 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
1 cup heavy cream, at room temperature (oops....mine was cold)
1 Tbsp fleur de sel (or any other flaky sea salt) -- I didn't have, so I used regular salt, but went down to 2 tsp

Directions:

Get all of your ingredients ready and set aside -- this who recipe comes together quickly and a few seconds can be the difference between heavenly salted caramel sauce and a burnt mess!!

Add the sugar in an even layer over the bottom of a heavy sauce pan (make sure it can hold at least 2-3 quarts).
Heat the sugar over medium-high heat, whisking it as it begins to melt.  You'll see that the sugar will begin to form clumps, but that's OK.  Keep whisking, and as it continues to cook, they will melt back down.
Stop whisking once all of the sugar has melted.
Swirl the pan occasionally while the sugar cooks.

Continue cooking until the sugar has reached a deep amber color -- this happened WAY quicker than I thought it would.  So watch.  it.  CLOSELY.  It should look almost reddish-brown, and have a slight toasted aroma.  This is the point where it can co from perfect caramel to burnt in a matter of seconds, so keep a close eye.  If you're using a instant-red thermometer, cook until the sugar reaches 350F (a good tip for beginners).

As soon as the caramel reaches 350F, add the butter all at once.  Be careful as the caramel will bubble up when the butter is added.
Whisk in the butter until it is completely melted.

Remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour in the cream.  Again, be careful because the mixture will once again bubble up ferociously.
Whisk until all of the cream has been incorporated and you have a smooth sauce.
Add the salt and whisk to incorporate.

Set the sauce aside and let cool for 10-15 minutes.
Pour into your favorite glass jar and let cool to room temperature.
You can refrigerate the sauce for up to 2 weeks.  You'll want to warm the sauce before using.