[W]hat are you supposed to do with a no good, very bad toothache?
Warm salt water rinse? An emergency visit to the dentist? Eighty seven bottles of over-the-counter pain killers? Bourbon? Marathon viewing of old Seinfeld episodes?
I’ve been trying to figure this out all week. So far I’ve found the most solace in a pint of smooth vanilla ice cream and this sweet Burnt Orange Caramel Sauce (and an exciting appointment with my new New Orleans dentist).
Cool story, right? Hopefully you can treat yourself to a sweet caramel sundae without the pain.
(Oh! If you’re thinking that the reason I have a toothache is because I eat too much dang caramel… No. Not listening.)
These oranges were gifted from Martine Chaisson. Glory be!
Here’s how caramel comes together: granulated sugar, super fresh orange juice, and a bit of corn syrup are simmered together.
Once browned, toasted and golden, we’ll add our fats: heavy cream and unsalted butter. Heavy hitters.
Salt and vanilla for extra flavor points.
Making caramel is about faith, trust, and timing. It’s an exercise.
We’re going to need some faith in he fact that we can simmer sugar until deeply golden brown. We’re going to trust that we won’t burn the caramel… because we’re going to try really hard not to. And we’re going to need timing and guts to know when golden enough is golden enough.
Once the sugar and orange juice is browned and golden, the heavy cream and butter are stirred into the simmering sugar. The simmering caramel may seize when the cold butter and cream. That’s cool. This is where some of our faith comes in. Just keep stirring.
The cream and butter add a lovely viscosity to the caramel.
I added sea salt and caramel just after the fats are stirred in. Salt to balance the sweetness. Vanilla to round out the orange caramel.
Time for ice cream with caramel and crunch.
Creamy vanilla ice cream with this sweet, toasty orange caramel sauce. It’s sweet, salty, dreamy and the orange adds a really lovely depth of flavor.
Coarsely chopped pecan pralines to top. Keep it 100.
Burnt Orange Salty Caramel Sauce
Description
Orange sweet caramel sauce for topping ice cream
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt, plus more to taste
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat stir together orange juice, sugar, and corn syrup. Swirl the pan as the sugar begins to dissolve and the mixture begins to simmer.
- Keep a close eye on the mixture as it simmers and browns. No need to stir, just keep swirling the pan. The mixture will brown to a deep golden and begin to smell toasty.
- Remove from heat and quickly add butter and cream. The mixture will begin to seize a bit, but stir until incorporated and smooth.
- Stir in the vanilla extract and salt.
- Allow to cool before tasting. Add more salt if desired.
- Drizzle warm caramel over vanilla ice cream. Top with chopped almonds or chopped praline pecans.
- Store in an airtight jar and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
59 Responses
you have 1x, 2x and 3x options. How much (in cups) caramel does each option make?
Thanks…
Two things on this post…first, why do you add corn syrup? The caramel sauce I currently make does not call for it, so I am curious…do it add something to it?
Secondly, I think there is a typo…you have written:
“I added sea salt and caramel just after the fats are stirred in. Salt to balance the sweetness. Vanilla to round out the orange caramel.”
Should this not say:
“I added sea salt and vanilla just after the fats are stirred in. Salt to balance the sweetness. Vanilla to round out the orange caramel.”
I wish I had time to make the majority of your creations…
This is the best creation ever!! I can’t wait to try it. If I can successfully make this, I think I’m going to work on my next venture: chewy caramel. I was thinking a salted caramel. This one looks pretty good (https://bit.ly/saltedcaramel1B).
I bet this would also be delicious with blood orange juice and a bit of cinnamon. Looks great! Going to give this a go for some little jars to give to some people for random gifts, I think. Thanks!
This is one of your prettiest posts to date. Also, where do you get your beautiful dishes from? They are so unique, but I want them for myself :-)
I have about 7,000 oranges that I’m desperately trying to use up before they go the way of sad, mold-covered mess. MAKING THIS! Also, gives me a very good reason to buy ice cream.
Get to it! With all those oranges, you can make lots of this sauce!
I LOVE ice cream with caramel! *-*
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Such a perfect recipe ! Love it
I think ice cream with this caramel sauce would get me through any pain and heart ache!
This looks and sounds AMAZING!
This was amazing. Super easy and fast. I will add a bit more sugar next time, though. It was very tart.
This looks heavenly, as usual!
Yum !!! Nice twist to the ice cream toppings … I can imagine combining it with buttercream ????
I’m so excited about this recipe. As a major caramel addict, I fully support using ice cream and caramel to cure a toothache (that could never be caused by either of those foods). Feel better! I can’t wait to test this out!
Hi Joy, I’m a frequent visitor on your blog but a first time commenter … love your recipes and writing style and photos – thank you! I’m wondering how this caramel (minus the butter/cream addition) might work as the caramel base in a flan? I would also flavor the flan custard itself with something orangey (say, Patron Citronage?). Please share any thoughts you might have on my idea. Thanks in advance.
Yes, yes and YES please.
I sometimes wish that I didn’t love caramel QUITE as much as I do.
But, how life dull would be, without gooey, soft, caramelly goodness.
Absolutely going to give this recipe a whirl!
Love Isabella x
http://www.isabellamozzarella.co.uk
Looks lovely! Hope your toothache gets better!
Ooh la la! I’ve never thought about adding fruit juice to caramel before – sounds like the perfect thing to pour over some brownies as well for that lovely chocolate-orange combo ;)
This looks PHENOMENAL but PSA about toothaches.
If you have bad tooth pain/sensitivity to sweet foods & syrups, it could be pain caused by the actual nerve in your tooth. I’m not going into more details about the actual treatment, but you should check it out with a dentist for sure. That happened to me about a year ago and the pain was excruciating, but it’s very treatable.
Go to hell you New Year’s Resolutions! I’m already an addict! This looks sooo delicious!
Yum!
Aaah! The name itself sounds so good. I love salty caramel sauce and this recipe will surely worsen it. But I think I won’t mind at all. Haha.
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This just came up in my feed. I immediatly got up, juiced some mandarins, and went for it. I have to say… I recently declared myself to be inept at caramel making. I’m a fairly good and adventurous cook but epically failed at every caramel attempt. Inspired, I rallied. I wish I could post a pic because it’s so lovely and perfectly browned. Here’s the deal: all those recipes that instruct you to fastidiously wet pastry brush down the pan? I think that’s the prob. Al least for me. Anyway… Made it and love it. The family is going nuts! Make sure you have vanilla ice cream on hand!
Oil of clove does work, as someone else said. When I had a deep filling done, my dentist put some in there and it was magic. Good to have on hand! This recipe looks FABULOUS! I just made a batch of your salted dark chocolate orange ice cream from your new cookbook and had to stop myself from slurping the unchurned mixture … this carmel might be good on top! Or too much orange? Competing orange flavors?
WHAT! Yum, this sounds amazing :)
Will definitely be trying this. Yuuuuum <3
Of all possible cures I stand behind ample consumption of bourbon. This sauce too:)
These look so yummy and what can go wrong where there are caramel and oranges in the mix !:)
Lauren xx
Joy, just gotta say, “You are a stud!” When I am in pain, making an uber complex recipe is NOT what I do! Best of luck with your dentist. Remember, novacaine is your friend, don’t be scared of the huge, oversize Horror- Movie looking needle (why don’t they look like regular syringes?). It all happens very FAST. Hope u r feeling better soon.
Toothaches are the worst! Hope you feel better soon. Love orange with chocolate but now with caramel? Yes please!
I’ve tried your almost burnt salted caramel from your cookbook and loved it! Definitely need to try this too!
I had a really bad toothache once and went to the ER and all they do is give you painkillers. Fine for me because I lived in Canada so it was free, but not worth the 500+ ER visit fee here.
Delicious! Orange and caramel seem like the perfect pair today. Hope your tooth feels better soon :)
A nice little inspiration for today, sans the toothache of course. Little. Hmm. Has caramel of any kind ever been “little”?
I love the way this was written- and it looks so delicious, I’m about to try this like now! :) Thank you x
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Sorry about the toothache, hope you feel better soon! I’m making caramel ice cream for dessert tonight and I was planning on a simple caramel sauce, but I think I’ll go ahead and make it burnt orange caramel now! Thank you!
I hope your toothache gets better but I’m so glad that you’re still sharing this caramel sauce because I’m dying to try it! Pinned!
OMG YUM!! I need to get this stuff on french toast … or bread pudding .. or just a spoon!~
LOVVVVVEEEEE caramel sauce!!!! Can’t WAIT to try this…this looks delicious. Just delicious. Love this recipe.
I’m so excited to try this recipe. So delicious! So inspirational!
http://www.trangscorner.com
Hey Joy, have you ever tried using coconut cream in place of heavy cream for making caramel? I’m not sure if it would change the chemistry in terms of texture etc. but I think the fat content is relatively similar…
https://www.youtube.com/sparklesandsuch26
This looks so yummy. I love making ice cream so I guess this is my motivation to make something to put on that ice cream.
That caramel looks life changing :) who needs ice cream? I could eat it by the spoonful. Unless I had a toothache :)
This flavor combination sounds like the bee’s knees to me! Sorry about your dang toothache. That’s the worst :(
Oh dang! I love this orange twist on a caramel sauce. I’d be interested to try it with other fruit flavors as well.
No matter how bad the toothache, I would never advise cutting back on sugar! That’s crazy talk. ;) This looks delicious!
Oh Joy. I love this recipe so much. I haven’t made caramel sauce in far too long…this may just kick my butt back into gear. Lovely!
I made butterscotch pudding the other day and burned the first batch. Sigh. But then I made another and it was perfect. So tricky to learn a new stove, and mine seems to run HOT. Maybe I should make a few batches of this just to get a good grasp on how to best work with it. Yeah, that’s the reasonโฆ
So, I have no idea why you’re having tooth problems, but for a while I had tooth pain, and then I started making my own toothpaste and it stopped. I feel like such a crunchy hippy for saying that, but whatever. It worked, and I’m obsessed.
Your post is beautifully written; poetry in motion. Boy, that caramel looks heavenly! Great post.
Oil of clove will take that pain right away until you can get to the dentist. Hope things work out well for you with the dentist. Recipe sounds and looks amazing.
Ummmmโฆ wow. Just wow. Even though itโs below freezing at the moment, I want this right now!
I’m not overly confident I can pull off this recipe, cross your fingers for me! I want to savor this marvelous burnt orange caramel sauce so much. Every bit. Looks marvelous. Treating yourself when you go to the dentist makes sense, but I confess, I always get a hot fudge sundae after my yearly OBGYN visit! Ha. It’s the only way to motivate me to go. (Still thinking about the flavors in this sauce and my head is whirling right now)
Are you using molds for your ice cream dishes? I love it!
My mother gave me a pile of those when she moved and while I’ve occasionally used them for their intended purposes, I like this even better : )
I’m not a cook but love this!!! Everything I read about corn syrup is that it iiis bad for you…!!!! is there something else to use instead?
I swear, everything is better when oranges are involved! And you are so right, caramel sauce takes a ton of faith, but in my opinion, it is sooo worth it!
That is a VERY exciting and scrummy way to spruce up caramel – can you imagine it in a chocolate?!
Lauren x
Britton Loves | Lifestyle Food Fashion Beauty – http://www.brittonloves.blogspot.co.uk
I was making vats of this last night for my pop up tomorrow, but used blood orange zest and a little of the juice – so delicious!
I love the idea of using blood oranges! So good!