FOOD NEWS
The Simple Substitute For Making Caramel Without Any Cream
By Ashlyn Frassinelli
Homemade caramel sauce is simple to make with a few ingredients and even fewer tools. If you don't have any cream on hand, you can simply substitute it with some milk and butter.
The resulting caramel may be thinner, but when drizzled atop your favorite dessert, you likely won't be able to taste or notice the difference.
Any variety of milk works for this recipe, but the caramel will be runnier if the milk has less fat. Using milk with a higher fat content results in thicker caramel.
Simply cook down your sugar until it caramelizes, creating a rich golden-brown color. The longer it cooks, the deeper the color of the caramel — just be careful not to burn it.
Dairy is added to the mix either at the beginning or towards the end of the process to thicken up the sauce, add fattiness and body, and round out the caramel's sweetness.
Usually, both cream (or milk) and butter are added. The butter provides an extra level of richness and is especially important when substituting a lower-fat milk product.