Salted Caramel

You guys I am nuts over salted caramel. If it's a dessert option, I'm all over it. I was beyond thrilled when I found a salted caramel recipe on Smitten Kitchen and could not wait to make it. I made it on Sunday and it is heavenly. I do feel that if I had let it cook for just a tad bit longer that the flavor would have been much richer. I was afraid of doing that though, since I had failed at my first attempt and had a complete burned mess of sugar. But the good news is that sugar is cheap, so if you burn it you could easily try again. I highly recommend reading this and this before attempting to make this recipe.

Deep, Dark Salted Caramel Sauce
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes about 1 1/3 cups

Ingredients:
1 Cup of sugar
3 oz (6 tablespoons) salted butter. Try to get a high quality butter for a better flavor.
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of heavy cream, at room temperature

Directions:
*Melt the sugar over medium to moderately high heat in a two to three quart heavy pot like a Dutch oven  (do not use a nonstick), stirring the sugar as it melts to make sure that  it heats evenly.
*Cook the liquefied sugar to a dark copper color.
*Add the butter all at once and stir it in.
*Before turning off the oven pour in the heavy cream, whisking it until you get a smooth sauce.

Use right away or store it in a jar in the fridge for up to two weeks.