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Gluten Free Chewy Caramel Recipe (dairy free option)

Before you start, weigh out everything! Really important for this recipe.
Servings: 220 grams of caramel (approx)

Ingredients

  • 150 grams caster sugar
  • 80 ml water
  • 50 grams butter - *see "Ingredients" in the blog post above
  • 100 ml double cream - *see "Ingredients" in the blog post above
  • 1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

  • Add your sugar to a pan and give it a shake so the sugar is spread evenly across the bottom.
    >See advice on the pan in FAQ
  • Pour the water and lemon juice into the pan, so that its covering all of the sugar (if its not, give the pan a little shake).
  • Heat the contents on the lowest temperature you can set your hob to, until the sugar has dissolved. Important tips:
    1) The water should not simmer/boil during this stage. if it starts to simmer at all, remove the pan from the heat and let it cool a little before returning back to the heat.
    2) You know when your sugar has totally dissolved because the sugar/water mix will have gone from cloudy to totally clear and you wont see any grainy bits sitting at the bottom of the pan.
    3) This stage requires a lot of patience!!! If you crank up the heat or move onto the next step before the sugar has fully dissolved, you risk the sugar crystallising and it won't be usable so BE PATIENT!
    4) Ideally, don't use a spatula/spoon during this phase. If you need to mix anything, just lightly swirl the pan.
  • Turn up the temperature very slightly to bring the sugar/water mix to a simmer.
  • Let it simmer until it has reached precisely 165oC, at which stage it'll be light brown. Takes around 5-10mins. Important tips:
    1) During the simmering stage, do not stir the sugar/water mix AT ALL. Not even once. It may cause it to crystallise.
    2) Watch it very carefully because it quickly goes from around 150 to over 165. Hotter = burnt caramel taste and potential for the mix to be less chewy and more brittle.
    3) Whilst its simmering, you may notice patches (*like the picture*) of white forming around the edges. They need to be removed as they will form hard, crunchy lumps and you don't want them to fall off into your lovely smooth caramel! Get a pastry/egg brush, dip it in a tiny bit of water and brush around the sides of the pan so the stuck bits melt into the sugar/water.
    4) I also move my thermometer around the pan a bit because some points of my pan are often slightly hotter than others so I look for an average of 165oC.
    >If it does crystallise (looks like sugar cubes), see my FAQs for a potential way to rescue it!
  • At this stage, very, very slowly pour in the cream and stir it in. It'll bubble up like the picture.
    >It needs to be slow to stop the mix seizing up. You can't go too slow so don't worry about that!
    >Be careful, remember its really hot!!
    >Wooden spoon/spatula is fine.
  • Cut the butter into 3, adding 1 chunk at a time and stirring it in until its fully incorporated.
  • Increase the temperature slightly and let the mix boil until it reaches 120oC (it'll still look like the pic above whilst its boiling - not really like a regular liquid, more like honeycomb!)
    >Move your thermometer around the pan again just incase some points are hotter/cooler than others. If they are, you can stir it to make it all the same temperature and measure the temperature again.
    >DO NOT remove it from the heat until it reaches 120oC. This is the perfect temperature for a chewy, thick caramel. Any less and it will be a runny caramel.
    >You can stir with a wooden spoon/spatula now.
  • At this point, remove it from the heat and carefully place into a heatproof bowl/jar/dish or use however you'd like to!
  • To clean your pans, fill them with water and boil. The leftover caramel will dissolve and you can pour it straight down the drain.
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