Butterscotch Sauce

1. Have everything ready to go:

   First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go – the cream and the brown sugar next to the pan, measured and waiting. Making butterscotch is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients.
2. Melt the butter, then add the brown sugar and salt:

   In a heavy bottomed, 2-quart stainless steel saucepan, melt butter over low to medium heat. Just before the butter is melted, add all the dark brown sugar at once and stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar is uniformly wet. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of the salt.

3. Cook until bubbly:

   Increase the heat to medium. Stir infrequently until the mixture stops resembling wet sand and instead looks like molten lava, 3 to 5 minutes. Make sure to get into the corners of your pot, and watch closely to see the mixture change.

4. Add the cream:

   At this point add all the cream at once. Lower the heat a little and whisk cream into mixture. The sugar mixture may lump up, but that’s okay. Stir until the cream assimilates and any hardened lumps dissolve.
5. Simmer until syrupy:

   If you’re using a candy thermometer, clip one to the pot now. Cook, whisking no more than every few minutes, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until a digital or candy thermometer reads 225°F.

   The sauce will be slightly darker in color but won’t seem very thick (it will thicken as it cools). If you don’t have a candy thermometer, it’s better to err on the side of less simmering than more.

6. Add the vanilla, then transfer to a container:

   Turn heat off and stir in the vanilla. Let rest for a minute or two before transferring into a non-reactive bowl. (We prefer a stainless steel or glass bowl.)

7. Taste and adjust:

   Dip a small spoon into the sauce, then let it cool enough to take a small taste. It’s important to know what cooked brown sugar and butter tastes like, and what happens when transforming that flat sweetness into real butterscotch flavor.

   After tasting, add up to another 1-1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and up to another 1/2 teaspoon of salt, tasting as you go until the marvelous taste of real butterscotch is achieved. Remember to let the small spoonfuls of sauce cool between tastings.

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