It was a few years ago, after caroling and light seeing my little family had gone and froze our tails off doing. We were ice cold and needed something warm and soothing stat. We stopped by a Starbucks that was nearby and picked up a caramel apple spice drink and a hot cocoa. This caramel apple spice drink was gone so fast! It became a family favorite and we have been making our own version ever since.
There are two parts to the drink.
- The salted Caramel sauce
- The apple cider drink in it’s entirety…
How to make homemade salted caramel sauce.
Caramel sauce is a little different than homemade caramels. I use fewer ingredients and it is a whole lot simpler. There still are a few key tips for anytime you are making caramel, but the sauce is faster and easier. Here are a few pro tips.
- Stir the sugar and water until the sugar is dissolved completely. Do no remove the spatula until it starts to boil. From the time that it starts to bubble take out the stirring utensil and gently shake the pan back and forth to keep the sugar moving and not burning. You want to move it from side to side gently. Be careful not to be to vigorous as to spill! Or splash the sugar up the sides of the pan.
- Remove from heat right when it starts to turn to a golden amber color. The pan and the contents will be so hot that it will continue to cook even as you finish adding ingredients. If you take the pan off the heat when it is a dark amber color it might taste a little on the burnt side.
- Use a med-large heavy pan, high temp spatula and keep you heat on med! Caramel making takes a little bit of patience. my total time from start to finish was about 8 minutes- so it is not torture but give your self some time to do it slow and figure it out.
4. once you remove it from heat you will add the butter, cream and other ingredients. It will bubble up quite high, so make sure you are using a bigger pan.
5. use the best ingredients, especially when it come to the salt! I am a big fan of Redmonds Real Salt. There salt has the best flavor (which is essential in this recipe. since its kinda the star!) Real Salt enhances the richness of the caramel and adds wonderful salty- but not overly salty- flavor. Another bonus is the salt has so many minerals and is mined from here in the US. This company is awesome.
How to make salted caramel apple spice drink
Step 1: Now that you have the caramel sauce done, you want to start by putting a couple of tablesppons of the caramel sauce in the bottom of the cups.
Step 2: Pour hot apple cider into the cups on top of the caramel. You can heat up a cider from a local farm, your store or when we are in a pinch we really love these alpine apple cider packets that you mix with water (you can get sugar free too).
Step 3: Stir together. It will become a little creamy and frothy. I love drinking it just.like.this. If you want to deck it out add some whipped cream on top, more homemade caramel and a shake of cinnamon.
A Great Gift for Friends and Neighbors
I love to pass around gift to my close friends and neighbors. its not usually something big or fancy- but something made from scratch and lots of love. Sounds cheesy but is totally true. This homemade caramel sauce is PERFECT. In years past I have made a small bottle of salted caramel sauce tied it up cute. Picked up a packet of apline apple cider and a can of whipped cream. i write the instructions of how to assemble on a cute note and my friends LOVE it.
If you are looking for a few more neighbor gifts try giving this cinnamon milk, or this spiced orange cider! One year I did Kadee’s homemade pickles and they were a HUGE hit. So healthy and delicious.
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/2 c heavy cream
- 1/2 t coarse salt
- 1 t vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup water
- Apple Cider Mix + Hot Water
- Whipping Cream
- Cinnamon for garnish
Heat sugar and water over low-medium heat in a heavy-bottom pan, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon or high temp spatula.
Stir the sugar and water until the sugar is dissolved completely. Do no remove the spatula until it starts to boil.
- From the time that it starts to bubble take out the stirring utensil and gently shake the pan back and forth to keep the sugar moving and not burning. You want to move it from side to side gently. Be careful not to bee to vigorous as to spill! Or splash the sugar up the sides of the pan.
Remove from heat right when it starts to turn to a golden amber color. The pan and the contents will be so hot that it will continue to cook even as you finish adding ingredients. If you take the pan off the heat when it is a dark amber color it might taste a little on the burnt side. It continues to cook in the pan after you remove it from heat.
Use a med-large heavy pan, high temp spatula and keep you heat on med! Caramel making takes a little bit of patience. my total time from start to finish was about 13 minutes- so it is not torture but give your self some time to do it slow and figure it out.
Remove from heat and immediately stir in butter. The sauce will bubble up. Continue stirring, adding in remaining ingredients.
- Pour into an air tight container. I like to use mason jars. Let cool. It can be refrigerated for 1 month.
- Add a heaping spoonful of caramel into the bottom of a mug.
- Pour in steamy hot apple cider.
- Add some whipped cream and drizzle dark caramel sauce on top.
- Finish off with a sprinkle cinnamon. Now that is a gorgeous drink.
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This is my favorite recipe! Yum !
These mugs are so dang cute?! love that this recipe uses ooey gooey caramel, I’m dying to try