Easy Caramel Sauce

A few nights ago I made dinner for my mother-in-law and my mother.

(John and the baby were there too but they don't count.)

For some reason it didn't occur to me to make a dessert until the last minute.

I'm not sure why since dessert is my favorite part of dinner, duh!?

After taking a quick look in my fridge and seeing 3(!) different varieties of apples I was inspired to make a caramel dip. 

This caramel was easy and quick to make, I think it took less than 10 minutes from start to finish. The sauce was delicious although I over cooked the sugar a touch so it tasted slightly like burnt sugar.

It was still good though and a winner with my mom and MIL.

I definitely recommend it for dipping apples, pouring on ice cream, adding to coffee or drinking straight from the jar.

Oh, and on a completely different note:

Look up cute in the dictionary and you'll find this face right here.

Easy Caramel Sauce

Source: Simply Recipes

Makes: about 1 cup

1 cup sugar

6 tbsp butter

½ cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. First, make sure you have everything ready to go - the butter and cream right next to the pan, ready to put in. Caramel is a fast process that can't wait for hunting around for ingredients.

2. Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on. Note that this recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest of it is melted, the next time you attempt it, add a half cup of water to the sugar at the beginning of the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize.

3. As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.

4. As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.

5. Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.