Caramel sauce is so simple to make in your own kitchen with available ingredients and equipment. This sauce can be versatilely used in many desserts such as a side dip, a filling or a topping.
A perfect caramel sauce doesn’t not only require a good smell, color or taste, but the texture also needs to reach the standard as well. Therefore, if you find your homemade caramel sauce is too thin, you will need to thicken it.
There are several ways to thicken the caramel sauce with ease and we will mention it all in this article. The most efficient way is simmering it to remove any excess liquid, on the other hand, you still have many choices using thickening agents to salvage the runny caramel sauce.
How to thicken caramel sauce with a starch thickener
This section will show you how to thicken your watery caramel sauce with a starch thickener such as flour, cornstarch or tapioca starch.
Material
- 1 tbsp. of cornstarch/ 2 tbsp. of flour or 1 ½ tbsp. of tapioca starch
- ¼ cup of cold water
Tools
- A saucepan
- A bowl
- A wooden spoon
Instruction
- Pour the caramel sauce into a saucepan and heat over a low heat
- Meanwhile, dilute the materials above in a bowl to create a slurry (this amount will be used for each cup of caramel)
- Add the mixture to the saucepan then stir the sauce occasionally until it reaches the desired consistency
- Take the pan out of the heat and serve
Notes
- The amount of each thickener is different so better check the instruction carefully. You can add or remove as you wish if the sauce doesn’t reach the desired thickness
- Make sure to completely dissolve the mixture of water and the thickener before adding to the sauce to prevent clumping
- Never use hot water with these thickeners since the starch will get lumps in hot water
How to thicken caramel sauce by simmering it without any materials
This will be the easiest and quickest way to thicken your caramel sauce. Let’s take a look at the step-by-step instruction below
Material
- None
Tools
- A saucepan
- A wooden spoon
Instruction
- Pour the sauce into a saucepan and heat it on medium heat on your stovetop
- Don’t forget to stir the sauce occasionally until the excess liquid is evaporated and the thickness is as your desire
Notes
- Caramel sauce tends to be thicker once it’s cool. After completing the sauce, you should wait a bit to let the sauce cool first to see if the consistency can reach your desire
How to thicken caramel sauce by altering the caramel recipe
This method aims to thicken the caramel sauce right at the beginning rather than fixing an already thin sauce.
Material
- Sugar
- Whipping cream
Tools
- A saucepan
- A wooden spoon
Instruction
- If you plan to make a thicker caramel sauce, you can reduce the amount of milk, like only use ½ to ⅔ the recommended milk in the original recipe
- Add more sugar so your sauce will end up to be thicker. For instance, use 1.5 times higher than the instruction on the recipe
- Substitute the milk with the whipping cream will allow keeping the flavor but helps to result in a creamy and thick sauce
Notes
- If you don’t have a sweet tooth, avoid using extra sugar to thicken the caramel sauce, or you can add a little bit salt to the sauce to degrade the sweetness
