Best Ever Caramel Sauce

Brace yourself for insurmountable amounts of wit, y'all. I started a Twitter yesterday. Or is the proper lingo "I'm on Twitter"? I'm Twittering? Tweeting? I'm still not sure, but whatever you call it, it's happening. Hashtags and @s will abound outside of my normal Instagram comfort-zone.

It was a mildly horrifying moment, realizing I had no idea how Twitter actually worked. How long has Twitter been a thing anyway?

Ok, just wikipediaed that--6 years. What the hell. I'm still trying to figure out the source of my aversion to social media. I am overcoming it though, one step at a time. First Pinterest, then Instagram, now Twitter. Things are happening. For real.

On a related note, this caramel. This caramel is happening on some vanilla ice cream on its way to my belly right now. #breakfastfood (see what I did there?).

This really might be the best caramel ever. Scratch that. It is the best caramel ever. And so easy too! You know what else I think should happen with this caramel? Pretzels. Good. Nilla wafers. So good. Peanut butter pie. Unreal!

Best Ever Caramel Sauce

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Place the cream and vanilla bean paste (or vanilla bean pod and seeds) in a small saucepan and heat over low heat until warmed (do not boil).

While cream is heating, pour sugar, corn syrup, and water in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan and whisk together. Place the pan over medium heat and continue whisking until sugar is dissolved. Without stirring, allow the mixture to boil until it turns a golden amber color.

Remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour the hot cream into the caramel (be sure to remove the vanilla bean pod first if using vanilla bean). Be careful, as the mixture will bubble up. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth, scraping the bottom and edges of the pan. If any lumps form, return the pan to the heat and stir until smooth. With pan off the heat, add the butter and stir until smoothed in. Transfer to a heat resistant bowl or jar.

Storage: Let the caramel cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Caramel will hold in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 weeks.

Reheating: The caramel will firm up a lot when refrigerated. Simply microwave it to loosen it. If it still seems too thick once heated, stir in a few splashes of hot water until desired consistency is achieved.

Serving: This caramel is made to be served hot. It will thicken as it cools, but if you want to serve it at room temperature or cooler, thin it with hot water.