Caramel sauce (p. 849)

I've been trying to pound through some of the randomly selected list and I thought Caramel sauce (p. 849) seemed fairly easy. I like making candy and it seemed like an easy candy-like recipe, so a simple thing to knock off the list.

I boiled sugar and water until the syrup was clear:

I boiled the syrup until it began to darken around the edges and then stirred it until it was a deep amber (one of those obnoxious value judgement):

I stirred in a stick of butter until incorporated and then added heavy cream:

Finally, I stirred in a little vanilla and salt. The recipe actually made quite a bit:

And I poured the sauce over some ice cream:

I should come clean--I'm not a huge ice cream eater and I really don't require sauces the few times I eat it, so I'm not an aficionado.

I don't know about this recipe. I thought the caramel tasted burned but I probably just overcooked it--it's very hard to make something that is essentially a candy without using a candy thermometer. Josh really loved it and happily used it for the next couple of days, so it might just be a matter of taste. It kept well in the refrigerator and was nice for making vanilla ice cream a little more interesting.

Has anyone made this before? Did it taste burned to you?