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This luscious Lemon Caramel is a step beyond your favourite salted caramel recipe. The lemon flavour will give your favourite caramel sauce a delicate citrus tang which is totally addictive. This Lemon Caramel Sauce can be used for a variety of desserts from drizzling on ice cream to glazing a cake or even used to sandwich a millionaire’s shortbread.
Jump to:
- Do lemon and caramel go together?
- Why you’ll love this Lemon Caramel
- Love lemon? Me too – here are so more lovely lemony recipes:
- What ingredients to use for Lemon Caramel
- What is the best saucepan to use for caramel?
- How to make Lemon Caramel
- Tips for making Luscious Lemon Caramel
- What to do if you burn the sugar
- When is the Lemon Caramel ready to use?
- How to store Lemon Caramel
- How to re-heat Lemon Caramel
- Can you make Lemon Caramel vegan?
- Uses for Lemon Caramel
- More caramel recipes you’ll love!!
- Lemon Caramel
There is something about the rich sweetness of caramel which is calling out for something extra to tip the scales. This is why salted caramel works so well. That dash of salt takes the edge off the sweetness and gives it an addictive quality with layers of flavour to savour in every bite.
Well, let me introduce you to a version of your favourite salted caramel which will not only give you sweet and savoury vibes but a bit of fruitiness and a light tang which will really stimulate your flavour palate:
Lemon Caramel
Do lemon and caramel go together?
Yes. Caramel is made of sugar, cream and butter which are natural friends to lemon because of their complimentary personalities. In fact the caramelisation process of these ingredients is the perfect foil for lemon’s sharp citrus vibe. The lemon cuts through the sweetness of the rich caramel giving complexity and flavour stimulation.
Why you’ll love this Lemon Caramel
- If you love salted caramel then this is taking it to another level.
- It’s the perfect balance of sweet, salty, tangy flavour with a slight bitterness that is incredibly addictive.
- Caramel sounds an intimidating thing to make but actually this recipe is very easy. After you’ve made it the first time you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.
- Only 5 ingredients – and one of them is salt.
- You can use it on absolutely everything. Scroll down for a plethora of uses for Lemon Caramel.
READ MORE >>> Lemon Caramel Cake
Love lemon? Me too – here are so more lovely lemony recipes:
What ingredients to use for Lemon Caramel
- 1 lemon – unwaxed
- Double cream – you can use heavy cream
- Caster sugar – you can use any white sugar
- Unsalted butter – it must be at room temperature for this recipe
- Kosher salt – this is a lovely gentle salt. You can use sea salt but reduce the quantity a little and see how you go.
What is the best saucepan to use for caramel?
You’ll need a saucepan with a good solid base. A copper based saucepan is a great choice as it conducts heat quickly with even heat distribution so that your sugar can melt.
Stainless steel saucepans take longer to heat up but they do have great heat distribution too.
A medium sized saucepan is best as the caramel can rise up significantly during the process and you don’t want it overspilling.
The saucepan I use is copper based with a stainless steel inner coating.
How to make Lemon Caramel
For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
The steps are simple:
- Heat the double cream with the peel of 1 lemon and remove from the heat just before it reaches a boil.
- Leave to infuse for 30 minutes then strain.
- Heat the caster sugar in a medium sized saucepan until the sugar has completely melted and turned a dark golden brown.
- Pour in the lemon cream and butter, be careful as it will dramatically bubble right up the pan.
- Stir it all together and it will quickly form a thick silky caramel sauce.
- Stir for a minute or two then remove from the heat and add the salt.
Recommended equipment: Fine Skin Peeler, Fine Mesh Sieve, Silicone Spoon
Tips for making Luscious Lemon Caramel
- Use an unwaxed lemon to avoid any greasy bits of wax in your caramel.
- The lemon should also be very fresh so it peels easily and cleanly.
- The best peeler for the job is a fine skin peeler which gives a very fine peel and helps to avoid too much pith on your peel.
- Bring your double cream off the heat just before it starts boiling. If you watch the cream closely you’ll see a slight wobble across the surface. Take it off now before any bubbling starts to occur.
- Pour the sugar into the saucepan so that it is in an even layer which means it should melt evenly.
- Try to avoid moving the sugar about in the pan too much, if you need to swirl it around so that you can encourage even melting then give the saucepan a gentle shake rather than using a spoon. This will avoid making the sugar lumpy which then takes longer to melt and could result in the sugar burning before it has all finished melting.
- The sugar is ready for you to add the cream and butter when it has all melted and is a dark tan colour. If it gets too brown then it is burning. If some of the sugar is still in little clumps and the melted sugar is getting too dark then add the cream and butter anyway. You can always strain the caramel at the end of the process.
- Your cream and butter should be at room temperature to avoid the caramel rising up and spitting. Plus adding cold cream and butter will cause the sugar to harden again meaning your caramel will have to re-melt.
- As soon as the cream and butter have been added you can stir your caramel. A silicone spoon is the best tool for this job.
- Once the caramel has come together it should be thick, rich golden brown and smooth.
What to do if you burn the sugar
We have all done it. I do it regularly. I start making caramel then get distracted for a moment and the sugar is burnt and smells acrid. There is no way of saving burnt sugar but you must act quickly in order to avoid a real mess when cleaning it up as sugar hardens quickly.
If your sugar burns then turn off the heat immediately. Pour the burnt sugar into a silicone container if you have one. If you don’t then line a mixing bowl with baking parchment and pour the sugar into that so that it doesn’t touch the bowl. If you pour the hot melted sugar straight into the bin it will burn a hole in your bin bag and then you’ve got even more trouble on your hands.
Wait for the sugar to cool and harden and then you can throw the sugar and parchment away. If you used a silicone container it will just pop right out.
Meanwhile as soon as the sugar has been poured out of your saucepan then stick it in the sink and fill with very hot water. This will melt the sugar stuck to the pan so it cleans up a treat.
Brush yourself off and start melting another batch of sugar. Don’t let a bit of burnt sugar dishearten you.
When is the Lemon Caramel ready to use?
When Lemon Caramel has been freshly made it is hot, silky and extremely pourable. If you use it at this stage it will create a thin sauce. The caramel improves in consistency as it cools.
1. Pourable Caramel
20 minutes – Pour the freshly made caramel out of the pan and into a jug and leave for 20 minutes. This will be the perfect consistency for a number or uses including pouring over ice cream or glazing a cake.
2. Set Caramel
In order to use the caramel in a firmer state then you will need to chill the caramel in the fridge.
1 hour – If you chill the caramel for 1 hour it will be the perfect consistency to use in a Millionaire’s Shortbread recipe or a caramel tart. It will be spreadable but not completely firm.
Overnight – If you leave the caramel to set in the fridge overnight then it will be very firm (still soft) but a good consistency to use in a chocolate mould if you are making chocolates, or in a recipe like this Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Cup.
How to store Lemon Caramel
Lemon Caramel is best stored in the fridge in an airtight container where it will keep well for up to 2 weeks.
How to re-heat Lemon Caramel
Pour the caramel into a saucepan and turn the heat on low/medium. Stir the caramel all the time whilst it gradually warms. As soon as you feel the caramel start to loosen you should remove it off the heat and use it for pouring. The longer you heat the caramel the thinner the caramel sauce will be. If you heat it too much just rest it for 20 minutes to cool back down to a thicker consistency.
Can you make Lemon Caramel vegan?
Yes you can. You can use a thick coconut milk in place of the double cream and a vegan butter in place of the unsalted butter.
Uses for Lemon Caramel
- over ice cream or sundaes
- over your pancakes on Pancake Day
- over a stack of waffles
- drizzled over your porridge or bircher museli
- on freshly popped Sweet n' Salty Popcorn
- inside these Peanut Caramel Brownies
- poured over an apple pie
- drizzled over a lemon cheesecake
- an indulgent dip for fruit or pretzels or crisps!!
- stirred through warm custard
- blended with ice cream and a splash of milk for an indulgent milkshake
- drizzled over shortbread
- as a dipping sauce for churros
- stirred into your hot chocolate
- as a filling in chocolate truffles
- poured over a pavlova
- stirred into rice pudding
- Lemon Caramel is absolutely delicious poured as a glaze over this Lemon Caramel Cake.
More caramel recipes you’ll love!!
- Gluten-Free Caramel Cake
- Apple and Cinnamon Cake with Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Buttercream
- Banana Rum Caramel Cake
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Cups
- Peanut Caramel Brownies
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Espresso Cake
I urge you to give this Lemon Caramel a try. If you do then please leave a comment below and give the recipe a rating which helps others find the recipe on Google. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own culinary creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
Lemon Caramel
Ingredients
- 350 ml double cream
- 1 lemon - unwaxed
- 250 g caster sugar
- 40 g unsalted butter
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Peel the zest off the lemon in long strips, making sure not to get too much pith.
- Pour the double cream into a medium sized saucepan and add the lemon peel.
- Bring up to a gentle heat and then remove from the heat just before it reaches a boil.
- Pour the cream and peel into a jug and leave to infuse at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Strain out the lemon peel once infused and weigh out 300ml of the cream to use in this recipe.
- Tip the caster sugar into a medium sized saucepan and heat on a gentle temperature as the sugar begins to melt.
- Avoid moving the sugar around too much but you can encourage an even melting by gently shaking the actual saucepan around occasionally if you need to. Keep a careful eye on the sugar and do not leave at all.
- As the sugar has melted it will turn a dark golden tan colour. Watch to make sure it doesn’t get too browned as this means it’s burning.
- As soon as the sugar has melted and has turned that dark golden tan colour then pour in the strained cream and the butter. It will rise dramatically up the saucepan so stand back at first for safety.
- Stir the cream and butter into the melted sugar and it will quickly form a thick silky caramel sauce.
- Stir for a minute or two once the caramel has formed then you can turn off the heat and add the salt.
- Pour the caramel into a jug and leave for 20 minutes for it to thicken to a pourable consistency. Stir briefly before using.
Video
Notes
Ingredient substitutions
- Double cream – you can use heavy cream.
- Caster sugar – you can use any white sugar.
- Kosher salt – you can use sea salt but maybe start with ½ teaspoon as it’s a little stronger.
- Vegan Lemon Caramel Sauce – Swap out the double cream for a thick coconut milk and use a vegan butter in place of the unsalted butter.
Tips
- This recipe begins with 350ml double cream when the actual caramel only needs 300ml. This is because during the initial heating and infusing of the double cream you may lose some of the quantity. By starting with more cream than you need you can assure you have exactly the right amount for your caramel.
- Bring your double cream off the heat just before it starts boiling. If you watch the cream closely you’ll see a slight wobble across the surface. Take it off now before any bubbling starts to occur.
- Pour the sugar into the saucepan so that it is in an even layer which means it should melt evenly.
- Try to avoid moving the sugar about in the pan too much, if you need to swirl it around so that you can encourage even melting then give the saucepan a gentle shake rather than using a spoon. This will avoid making the sugar lumpy which then takes longer to melt and could result in the sugar burning before it has all finished melting.
- The sugar is ready for you to add the cream and butter when it has all melted and is a dark tan colour. If it gets too brown then it is burning. If some of the sugar is still in little clumps and the melted sugar is getting too dark then add the cream and butter anyway. You can always strain the caramel at the end of the process.
- Your cream and butter should be at room temperature to avoid the caramel rising up and spitting. Plus adding cold cream and butter will cause the sugar to harden again meaning your caramel will have to re-melt.
- As soon as the cream and butter have been added you can stir your caramel. A silicone spoon is the best tool for this job.
Anuja Khemka says
Hi!
This sounds incredible. I am doing some tangy caramel testing today (buttermilk caramel vs sour cream caramel and adding this to thAt). Is it an overwhelming lemon flavor or just the right tang to cut through?
Thank you,
Anuja
Georgina Hartley says
I think it's just the right amount of tang. It's not over the top lemony. I hope that helps.
Aimee Walters says
Can you cook these longer to make soft caramel candy?
Georgina Hartley says
I haven't tried it but I don't see why not.
Chloe Edges says
This sounds all kind of amazing - such a simple twist but I bet it's gorgeous. Definitely going to try this!
Georgina Hartley says
Well I'll give you a fair warning - you'll be wanting to drizzle it over everything you bake from now on!!! Thank you Chloe!!
Jodie says
Oh my goodness why have I never thought of this before?! I see lots of lemon caramel in my future (and dare I say it - orange caramel!). What about using your lemon powder in this instead of infusing the cream with lemon peel I wonder? And btw, you can get vegan double cream now! Elmlea make a plant based double cream which is indistinguishable from the dairy one so no need to make it with coconut which is overpowering in its own flavour
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Jodie, yes you can absolutely use the lemon powder for the infusion - and I did test it this way too. It's delicious, a little bit of a different flavour as the lemon powder is richer and deeper in flavour. I have just heard about the plant based double cream that Elmlea do - great idea for a substitution!