Rich butterscotch sauce
I’m at it again with another cake-related recipe that’ll have your cakes tasting extra delish! With Father’s Day now here, I wanted to release one of my favourite sauces that I use for cake toppings and fillings - the classic butterscotch sauce.
Growing up, my Dad was the dessert maker in our family. Nothing too fancy, but he always had his go-to signature vanilla (my Grandmother’s recipe) and chocolate cake. I remember watching Dad in the kitchen baking away, begging to lick the beaters and fighting to the death with my brothers to lick the bowl.
The last time I baked and made a cake with my Dad was when I was a child. So for this special Father’s Day blog post I invited him back into the kitchen with me…and this time, it was my turn to show him the ropes. And guess who was now stealing the leftover sauce and icing from the bowls? Ha!
I chose to feature my butterscotch sauce today, because it’s such an easy way to up the ante on your simple chocolate cake and cupcakes (like my Dad used to make). Who can resist that rich, creamy, silky smooth butterscotch sauce over ANY cake or dessert?
This recipe is super easy to follow, you could probably do it in your sleep!
See below for your short and sweet recipe, PLUS a visual step-by-step. I hope you enjoy baking in the kitchen with us!
The darker the brown sugar, the richer the sauce and deeper the hue. ”
LET’S GET COOKING
While many people ‘throw things’ together when they’re in the kitchen, my Dad (like myself) is more of a meticulous cook.
He would carefully measure and follow the instructions precisely, which is actually really important in baking - one wrong move and your cake or dessert doesn’t quite hit the mark.
While this is a strong point for both of us, I realise that so many people just don’t have the time or the patience for anything complex or precise. Which is why I’ve chosen the most simplest method for creating this delicious butterscotch sauce. No joke, the most involved thing you’ll be doing in this recipe is measuring out those ingredients. Hoorah!
Now before we dive into cooking, let me take you through the five ingredients we’ll be using for our sauce today.
Unsalted Butter - Don’t skimp out on the quality of the butter! The butter plays a major role in the underlying taste of the sauce. Go for the good stuff!
Brown Sugar - This is one of the key ingredients to achieving that deep rich butterscotch flavour. The darker the brown sugar, the richer the sauce and deeper the hue.
Pure Cream - I’d recommend opting for pure cream over low-fat cream options, as this can effect the taste and how the ingredients combine. For instance, low-fat cream is more prone to separating your mixture and harder to thicken.
Salt Flakes - Why salt flakes instead of your standard kosher salt? Salt flakes are quite flat and actually dissolve faster and blend more evenly in food. Salt flakes are referred to as a ‘finishing salt’ - once your food is cooked/prepared, add in the salted flakes for that pop of flavour.
The added salt further enhances the flavour profile of the butterscotch and helps to balance out the butter and sweetness/bitterness of the sugar, so make sure you don’t skimp out on this!
Vanilla Extract - Just like the salt, vanilla extract is used at the end of the sauce-making process to punch up the flavour. For me, that added taste of vanilla simply brings the sauce together perfectly!
Before you start cooking, it’s important to prep your ingredients first. I personally find it easier to measure and prepare all ingredients before cooking for a seamless experience (scroll down below for the full recipe listing the exact ingredient measurements and method).
It’s time to get cooking! In a saucepan over medium heat, combine your butter, cream and brown sugar. Gently stir your mixture until the sugar has dissolved.
Once the sugar has dissolved, simmer the mixture for 5 minutes. Don’t stir during this time - just let the sauce do it’s thing. Check out the awesome bubbling mixture below!
When 5 minutes is up, remove your saucepan from the heat and stir through your salt and vanilla extract. Check out the epic concentration on my Dad’s face as he estimates the large pinch of salt salt haha!
Annddd….your scrumptious butterscotch sauce is now done! How easy was that?!
Transfer your sauce to an jar or container and allow to completely cool before tightening on the lid and transferring to the fridge. Keep your sauce in the fridge for 2-3 weeks - but my bet it won’t last too long before you eat it all!
Please note that your sauce will thicken as it cools down. When you pull your sauce out of the fridge you’ll notice how thick and cold it is. Just simply rewarm the sauce in the microwave or over the stove top when you want to use it.
Your butterscotch sauce can be used for an array of different desserts, including cupcakes, ice-cream, tarts or even pancakes! Dad and I decided to use the sauce as a cake filling for our Father’s Day morning tea - naked chocolate cake filled with American buttercream, butterscotch sauce and toasted pecans. Is anyone else drooling right now?!
We decided to go a little bit fancy with the buttercream layers! Instead of spreading the icing on with a spatula, we opted to pipe buttercream stars using an open star piping tip. It looks much prettier when viewing the sides of your cake!
Once you’ve piped buttercream across your cake layer, drizzle on your butterscotch sauce and toasted pecans.
Dad couldn’t resist having a go at piping for the second layer…not too bad for a first timer! As you can see, I’m watching and guiding him closely haha.
To finish it off, I piped some buttercream swirls around the top edge of the cake and poured over the remaining butterscotch sauce. And when I say poured…I mean I literally poured it EVERYWHERE. I would suggest you start by filling the top centre of the cake, before pouring over the sides - it makes your cake look even more delectable!
We topped the cake with more nuts before declaring our Father’s Day cake finished! It tasted just as scrumptious as it looks.
BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE - RECIPE
Ingredients
4 tbl unsalted butter
1/2 cup tightly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup pure cream
1-2 tsp vanilla extract (to taste)
Large pinch of flake salt (to taste)
Method
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine your butter, brown sugar and cream.
Gently stir your mixture until the sugar has dissolved.
Once the sugar has dissolved, simmer the mixture for 5 minutes. Don’t stir or touch the mixture during this time - just let the sauce do it’s thing.
When 5 minutes is up, remove your saucepan from the heat and stir through your salt and vanilla extract. Add more or less depending on your preferred taste.
Allow the sauce to completely cool and store refrigerated in an airtight container for 2-3 weeks. Enjoy your delicious butterscotch sauce for your next dessert!