Apple Cider Caramel Sauce

This apple cider caramel sauce combines reduced apple cider with sugar, butter and heavy cream for a rich fall caramel sauce. It is perfect pancakes, muffins, scones, pies, or other fall baked goods. Bets of all, it comes together in one pot and can be stored in the fridge for up top 2 weeks.

About apple cider caramel sauce

This apple cider caramel sauce is smooth, silky and packed with sweet-tart apple flavor. Just like my apple cider muffins recipe, I reduce apple cider to concentrate that rich apple cider flavor and get rid of too much water. Warm notes of cinnamon, vanilla and a pinch of salt balance the richness perfectly. It's delicious straight from the jar or drizzled over warm pancakes, apple crepes, apple cinnamon bread, muffins and scones.

Ingredients

• Apple cider: I used unfiltered seasonal apple cider. Do not confuse it with apple cider vinegar.
• Granulated sugar: You will need about ¾ cups of granulated cane sugar.
• Light brown sugar: You can use just granulated sugar or dark brown sugar. I like how light brown sugar enhances the caramel with color and taste.
• Butter: You will need unsalted cold butter.
• Heavy whipping cream: You will need to warm up the heavy cream in a microwave before adding it to the saucepan
• Vanilla, cinnamon and salt: These ingredients are added at the end to add warm flavors and balance the taste of the caramel.

How to make apple cider caramel sauce

This is the quick step-by-step recipe overview. See the recipe card at the end of this post for the full recipe and ingredients quantities.

• Reduce the apple cider from 2 cups to ¼ cup over medium heat.
• Add sugars straight to the reduced apple cider. Let sugars melt over medium heat, stirring often. Once melted, it all bubble for 1 minute.
• Add cubed butter, stir it into the apple cider and sugars mix until it all melts.
• Slowly, pour in warmed up heavy cream, while stirring the sauce.
• Let it all simmer for 6-7 minutes over low-medium heat, stirring it from time to time, until the sauce slightly thickens.
• Take it off the heat, stir in vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Note: I have notices that adding cinnamon to the reduced apple cider at the beginning works better. If you add cinnamon at the end, you will need a whisk to incorporate it into the sauce better.
• Let it cool for 10 minutes. Pour the sauce into glass jars or containers with the tight lids and place it in the fridge.

Recipe tips and troubleshooting

• Reduce the cider first: Apple cider has too much water, so you will need to reduce it 4x times for a rich, thick syrup to use as a caramel base.
• Warm up your cream: Adding cold cream to the rest of simmering ingredients will bring the temperature down and the sugar might turn into a hard lump. Warm it up slightly in a microwave before slowly pouring into the pot.
• Separated caramel: If the butter or cream separates, remove the pan from the heat, add 1 tablespoon of warm heavy cream, and whisk vigorously until it gets re-emulsified. If hard sugar clumps up, move the pot back low heat and stir gently until the sugar melt back down.
• Reheat it: As the sauce cools down in the fridge, it will thicken. If you need it to be thinner, reheat it gently on the stove or in the microwave.

How to store caramel sauce

• Refrigerator: Store caramel sauce in the airtight jar or a container for up to 2 weeks.
• Freezer: You can freeze it for up to 2 months. Thaw it in the fridge before using.