I love experimenting in the kitchen, I really do. I am just curious of what is going to happen when I mix some random ingredients together. Well, sometimes shit happens and sometimes I create the most wonderful recipe. And this new recipe for raspberry caramel sauce is my experiment that worked out few days ago.
My Mom sent me few bottles of homemade raspberry juice and I thought that I would love to incorporate it in my baking somehow and got an idea to make raspberry caramel sauce. It turned out great. Raspberry caramel sauce is thick and has a nice raspberry flavour. It can be used interchangeably with my salted caramel sauce .
This recipe makes about 350ml raspberry caramel sauce.
How to make raspberry caramel sauce?
Many people struggle with making caramel. I was one of them until I realised what the issue was and fixed it. After many trials and errors I have finally discovered that the most important thing about making caramel is temperature and technique.
Let’s start.
First you need to decide what kind of caramel do you want to make?
- Thin caramel sauce . The one one you can drizzle on ice cream or different desserts. Thin caramel is not recommended as filling for cupcakes, cookies etc, as it will ooze and leak. In order to make this kind of caramel, you need to follow the steps and cook caramel to the thread stage, temperature 101C – 112C (215F – 235F).
- Thick and gooey caramel sauce. The one that is perfect for any type of filling. Can be used to fill cupcakes, cookies, macarons, cakes, doughnuts, etc. It holds its shape easily. In order to make this caramel, you need to follow the steps and cook caramel to the soft-ball stage, temperature 112C – 116C (235F – 240F). The caramel you see in the photos here is cooked to 116C (240F).
Of course there are more stages of cooking sugar but we focus on caramel recipe here.
It is important to know:
- The longer you cook the caramel the thicker it will become as the sugar temperature will go up.
- When you add raspberry syrup and sugar to the pot, stir it for a minute and then turn the heating on and DO NOT STIR anymore. If you stir sugar syrup at the early stage it will clump up and crystalize, which is not good. You will have to start all over.
- Use a deep pot with a heavy bottom. The mixture will foam when you add cream so it is better to use a deep pot to avoid overflowing.
- Make time to make caramel and be patient. You will need about 1 hour to make thick caramel sauce.
- It takes about 15 min for sugar syrup to become amber gold.
- It takes about 30-35 minutes for caramel to thicken after adding cream.
- For the best results and control I would recommend using a kitchen thermometer. It does not cost a lot to buy one and it is worth heaving if you plan making caramel, nougat, marshmallows or anything that requires cooking sugar.
- Caramel will thicken as it cools down.
- Making caramel requires stirring a lot. After adding cream you will have to stir all the time to prevent caramel from burning.
- If you overcook caramel it will become very hard, I mean like rock hard. By overcooking I mean boiling caramel to the temperature over 117C (242F). If you do it, do not panic as you can rescue it by following the below steps.
How to fix hard caramel
- Place caramel in a deep pot and melt it, add 70 ml water, cream ( double, or whipping) or milk and cook to the desired consistency.
What does raspberry caramel sauce taste like?
This unique caramel sauce tastes wonderful. It is obviously very sweet with a beautiful subtle raspberry flavour. If you wish you can add a tiny bit of salt.
How to use raspberry caramel sauce?
I have used this raspberry caramel sauce as a filling in my Baletki – Polish sponge cookies recipe, the flavour was wonderful! I will be sharing this recipe soon.
My raspberry caramel sauce can be used in cakes, cookies or cupcake fillings, drizzles, ice cream. The list is endless. Of course you can eat it with a spoon as well. I am sure that whatever option you go for, you will not be disappointed.
If you are looking for more recipes with caramel, I can recommend you the following:
Millionaire’s caramel gingerbread
No-bake Scottish millionaire’s caramel slice
Carrot cupcakes with salted caramel and popcorn
Click this link to see the best recipes with caramel
I hope you will make my recipe and if you do, please leave a comment below and let me know your feedback. You can also find me on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Gab and Gettr. Please say hi and do not forget to tag me in if you make my recipe. I love seeing your creations.
Recipe source –my own
Cheers!
Raspberry caramel sauce
Raspberry caramel sauce perfect for fillings and toppings.
Ingredients
Instructions
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IMPORTANT: never touch hot sugar, caramel or toffee, it is very hot and you can burn badly.
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BE PREPARED as you will need to act fast! Have all ingredients and equipment ready and DO NOT USE WHISK! Use flat spatula for stirring your caramel sauce so you can reach to the very bottom of your pot.
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Pour raspberry juice into a medium pot and heat it up until it reaches 119°C. DO NOT STIR at this stage.
This process will take about 15 minutes and you will notice how the juice reduces and thickens and how the bubbles become bigger.
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When juice reaches a soft ball stage of 119C, move the pot away from a heat source and pour in double cream. This step will be rapid and you will notice a lot of bubbles but do not panic, after few seconds it will calm down. Now move the pot back to a heat source. Keep stirring for about 2 minutes until you get a smooth mixture.
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Then add butter and keep stirring, making sure you reach edges of the bottom as well. Do not leave caramel unattended as it will burn.
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Keep stirring all the time, for about 5-6 minutes.
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IMPORTANT: the length of the stirring matters as the longer you cook caramel the harder it gets when it cools down. I mean, proper hard that you will not be able to spread it. It means that you cooked your caramel to a hard-ball stage which is between 121C to 130C. This is why I always recommend a good food thermometer to control the temperature.
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You will notice that the caramel sauce will start to thicken and the bubbles will start to form, keep stirring. Be careful, the bubbles will pop and splatter hot caramel, so watch your body!
Now you can also add salt if you wish.
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Then after about 6 minutes, turn the heat off and let the caramel cool down.
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When caramel is cold, transfer it to a jar or an air-tight container.
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Store raspberry caramel sauce in a fridge up to 2 weeks. Store it in a freezer for up to 3 months.
Note
TIP: I have tested this recipe with homemade raspberry juice and the results were great. If you plan to buy raspberry juice from a shop, please look for the real, thick raspberry juice without any additives.