I love vanilla ice cream, it’s tasty and a great neutral base to add on toppings. This time around I ladle on homemade caramel sauce – warm with bananas and nuts. Caramel sauce is pretty easy to make, it just needs a watchful eye and a few pantry/fridge staples.
In my opinion, the best thing about caramel is the sweet/salty balance, so I toss in some sea salt to give it a good kick. You can cool this sauce longer; it thickens as it cools, however I like to serve it slightly warm.
1 ¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon vanilla
⅛ – ¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 banana (sliced)
½ cup walnuts (chopped and toasted)
Vanilla ice cream (desired amount)
In a large sauce pan over low heat, add the sugar and water – whisk to combine. Allow this mixture to simmer for 5 minutes before raising the heat to medium. Boil until it becomes a clear “liquid” – do NOT stir, it is incredibly hot…gently swirl the pan in order to stir the mixture. When it becomes a golden brown (about 7-8 minutes of boiling), remove from heat and carefully pour in the heavy cream. The mixture will bubble up, don’t worry.
When the bubbles go down, whisk the cream into the caramel until smooth. Add in the salt, butter, and vanilla. Allow to cool for 20-30 minutes before adding the banana slices and nuts.
Serve over vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
