This recipe makes a caramel sauce out of apple cider. The total recipe takes a little over half an hour to make, but it is not as difficult as many caramel recipes are.
If you do not like pecans or have a nut allergy, just leave them out.
This caramel is great for putting over vanilla ice cream. It also pairs well with both pecan and apple pie. Drizzle over a coffee drink to add fall flavor.
Recipe
Equipment
Sauce pot, about 4 quarts
Measuring spoons and measuring cups
Ingredients
2 cups apple cider
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons salted butter
1/2 cup chopped pecan pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Put apple cider in the pot on high heat. Bring pot to boil and boil for about 15 minutes.
Boil until about 3/4 of the liquid has evaporated. Stir occasionally to prevent burning at the bottom of the pot.
Reduce heat to medium.
Add white sugar and stir until it dissolves.
Add brown sugar and stir until it dissolves.
Keep stirring for a few minutes. Use the spatula to scrape down and sugar stuck to the bottom or sides of the pot.
Add the cream, and keep stirring for a few minutes. The caramel might bubble up quite a bit.
Add the chopped pecans, and keep stirring. It will be quite runny still.
Turn off heat.
Add vanilla and cinnamon, and stir.
Pour the caramel sauce into the container you will store it in, because it will be harder to deal with once it sets up.
Let the caramel cool for a while, because otherwise it will burn you. As it cools it will thicken up.
Ingredient Notes
Apple cider
Fresh apple cider is widely available in the fall. This is not the type of cider that has alcohol. Instead it is an unfiltered apple juice. It is also not to be confused with apple cider vinegar.
Check the ingredients to make sure that your cider is 100% pure cider. This will not be an ultra-processed food. Apple juice will work in the recipe, but regular apple juice is probably ultra-processed.
Heavy cream
Heavy cream is also called whipping cream. It can be surprisingly difficult to find cream that does not include thickeners. Be sure to check the label.
Brown sugar
If you do not have brown sugar, you can use entirely white sugar. Brown sugar comes in dark or light, and it does not matter which type you use.
White sugar
I used organic granulated white sugar.
Butter
I used salted butter, because unsalted butter is an ultra-processed food. It uses natural flavorings. The salt from the butter is the reason there is no other added salt in the recipe.
I used Kerrygold when I made it this time, but I also frequently use Organic Valley Salted Butter. It is my hope that their cows are treated well.
Pecans
You can completely omit the pecans if you do not want to have nuts in your caramel sauce. You can also use walnuts instead.
Toasting the pecans before adding them will bring out even more flavor. Put them in a pan on low heat and watch them very carefully because they can burn quickly.
It can be significantly cheaper to purchase pecan pieces than pecan halves. Go with whatever is cheaper. I frequently find the best prices for pecans in the bulk bins.
Vanilla extract
Vanilla extract is not to be confused with vanilla essence. Vanilla extract is not an ultra-processed food, but vanilla essence is a synthetic product that is ultra-processed.
Cinnamon
If you don’t have cinnamon you can omit it, but it really brings out the apple flavor. You can also optionally add nutmeg or ginger.