Slightly tweaked version of a Dark Chocolate Caramel Sauce from The Joy of Cooking – deep, dark, chocolaty good. Serve this rich, creamy Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Sauce over ice cream, pancakes, waffles, crepes, anything!

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Sauce

What is Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Sauce Made With?

With just a few ingredients, you’ll be enjoying this chocolate salted caramel sauce recipe in no time.

  • granulated sugar
  • unsalted butter
  • heavy cream – to get the thickest, creamiest chocolate sauce, I strongly urge you not to try to substitute here, but if you have to, substitute with half and half.
  • bittersweet chocolate – if you would prefer to make a milk chocolate version of this, you can change the type of chocolate you use.
  • vanilla extract – while this is standard in a chocolate sauce recipe, you absolutely could try out different flavors to get different results. We loved it with almond extract.
  • flaky sea salt or fleur de sel

I’ve been making this slightly adapted version of a Joy of Cooking chocolate sauce recipe for years, without the salt.

Last summer, after a few delicious rounds of homemade ice cream, I decided to try a batch with some sea salt flakes to see what that was like.

And it was like heaven.

We’ve been making it like this ever since.

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Sauce

What Can I Do With Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Sauce?

This rich chocolate sauce goes great drizzled over waffles, pancakes, crepes, ice cream, sundae’s, pie, cake….

So pretty much anything you might like a little salted chocolate caramel sauce goodness over.

It makes a nice offering on any dessert table, as does my Easy Mocha Fudge Sauce. You might also really like my Dr Pepper Cherry Caramel Sauce which also includes a recipe for Dr Pepper Cherry Ice Cream.

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Sauce

WHAT CAN I SERVE WITH DARK CHOCOLATE CARAMEL SAUCE?

This incredible sauce pairs beautifully with our homemade pistachio ice cream and our super simple two ingredient peanut butter banana ice cream. Try it drizzled over this Ice Cream Torte.

If you want a really unique and delicious flavor experience, try it with our Chai Spice Coconut Ice Cream.

Another fun way to enjoy this sauce is to spoon it over our Pistachio Pudding Pancakes or substitute it on our Andes Chocolate Mint Pancakes.

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Sauce

Recipe for Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Sauce

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Sauce

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Sauce

Nicole Cook
Slightly tweaked version of a Dark Chocolate Caramel Sauce from The Joy of Cooking – deep, dark, chocolaty good. Serve over ice cream, pancakes, waffles, crepes, anything!
4.80 from 29 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Condiments Sauces and Dips
Cuisine American
Servings 24 servings
Calories 383 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 ½ cups unsalted butter cut into pieces
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
  • 2 ½ Tablespoons vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoons fleur de sel or any other flaky sea salt (add more if desired, to taste)

Instructions
 

  • In a heavy saucepan, stir the sugar and wate together over medium high heat, until the sugar has dissolved and it’s clear. Do not let the mixture boil yet.
  • Once it’s clear and the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat up to high, cover and allow to heat to boil for 2 minutes. (begin counting when you put the lid on, not when it boils)
  • After the 2 minutes, uncover the saucepan and allow to boil, swirling the pan around occasionally, you see the mixture get dark around the edges.
  • As it begins to darken, begin swirling the pan continuously until the syrup is a deep amber color and just begins to smoke.
  • Remove immediately.
  • Add the butter, and mix until melted and mixed in.
  • Next, stir in the heavy cream.
  • When adding in the heavy cream, if the sauce starts becoming lumpy, place back over very LOW heat while stirring until smooth. One smooth remove immediately from heat.
  • Now it’s time to add the finely chopped bittersweet chocolate and stir until it is fully melted.
  • Stir in the vanilla and the fleur de sel (or sea salt flakes).
  • Pour finished chocolate sauce into mason jars, seal and tie a tag on.

Nutrition

Calories: 383kcalCarbohydrates: 41gProtein: 2gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 58mgPotassium: 105mgFiber: 1gSugar: 39gVitamin A: 653IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 26mgIron: 1mg
Keyword easy sauce recipes
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38 Comments

  1. Who needs mere WORDS when we get this dark chocolate wonder instead. (Not that I don’t usually enjoy the words!) But really, no words are necessary. Just that first photo and the recipe, Nicole, and I’m good.

    1. I am such a caramel addict, I’d actually choose it over chocolate sauce most of the time. But man, put the two together and there’s a unique flavor blend that lends itself beautifully to sweet desserts. Thanks!

    1. There may or may not have been some spooning of chocolate sauce going on. There may or may not have been some odd things that the chocolate got drizzled on. 😉
      haha thanks!

  2. This looks incredible Nicole. My boys would love to have some of this laying around the house to make sundaes… yum!

  3. Nicole, I love what you’ve done with your site! It looks amazing, so fresh, modern and fun. Needless to say, I’m head over heels for your dark chocolate salted caramel sauce. I’ve been obsessed with adding salt to my sweets lately – it just punches up the flavour so much. I want to pour this over everything.

    1. You my sweet friend, made my whole night. Nobody has noticed yet. haha Thank you. It needed some attention and Dan made me promise not to change ANYTHING for 6 months… it’s been about 9 months now and I was ready for something different and more appealing. This works for me. She’s still a work in progress, I have a few more things to do but I’m slowly getting there. Thank you for the kind words. Also, I agree… there is just something about salt in your sweet stuff that’s just… I don’t know.. the missing thing. I love it! 🙂

    1. I would say no based on the fact that it contains heavy cream and I don’t believe there is a way to preserve that for long term storage.
      The good news? The recipe is easy enough to throw together on a whim and you can make a bunch and hand out as gifts.

  4. This was was so good and easy to make! I’ve struggled with caramel sauce in the past but following your directions this was perfect and it did not seize up when I added cream! Thank you

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