Butterscotch Sauce

I've always loved butterscotch, will take it over chocolate anytime.  Brach's butterscotch disks still delight me whenever I see them.  Thank God doctors love to put them out for their patients.  The amber color of them, the way the candy crackles between my teeth as I bite into it, leaving a residue gradually melting in my mouth.  I also love butterscotch sauce, but haven't had it in years.  I can't stand the stuff sold in the stores, which seems like caramels melted into a sludge.  It's too sweet and too thick for my taste.  So, I kind of forgot about my butterscotch lust until I read Callipygia's ode to the sauce.   Lucky for me, my cousins Charmayne and Keith coming for dinner provided the perfect excuse to make it.  And it meant that I'd have to share it, saving me from myself.  Nutella and butterscotch sauce won't last long around me.  Give me a spoon and let me dive in. But, I wanted to give the appearance of being civilized, so I served it with ice cream.

As the picture shows, this sauce isn't some sort of heavy, caramel paste. You can barely see it on the ice cream, but it was certainly there in all its glory.  It was all that I longed for, and then some.  The butterscotch flavor was lovely, but not too sweet.  And it had a tiny bit of brandy in it, which made a huge difference in the taste, for me, that is. 

But,alas, I didn't get to eat it all up with a spoon. That rapturous experience went to another person.  It's OK, I had already eaten half of the pitcher on 2 bowls of ice cream.  I sprinkled salted nuts on top, because salt coupled with sweet is marvelous.

Thank you Callipygia.  It was wonderful.

Butterscotch Sauce

makes 2 cups: Adapted from March 2008 issue of Saveur.


Ingredients:
8 Tbsp. Unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. Corn syrup
¼ C Water
¾ C Sugar
¼ C Brown sugar
1/3 C Half and half
1 tsp. Brandy (you could omit this, but it really makes a difference in the taste)
1 tsp. Vanilla
½ tsp. Sea salt

Directions: Put butter, corn syrup, and water in a saucepan over medium low flame. Stir until melted and add both sugars. Scrape down sides and then allow the mixture to come to a boil without further mixing. Syrup will turn a golden brown and when it reaches 245 degrees, remove from heat. Stir in half and half, brandy, vanilla, and salt. Cool and serve over ice cream. Broken pretzels and toasted nuts are very nice.

Comments

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

I would certainly need help to save me from myself with this in front of me. Yes, I do love butterscotch!!
Good magazine also.

[RecipeGirl]

I'm with you... butterscotch over chocolate any day!

Here's a suggestion: Make a sundae with a brownie, ice cream and heated butterscotch on top. We used to have these Brownie- Hot Butterscotch sundaes at one of our favorite restaurants in town!

[peabody]

Oh yum!

[Elise]

Hi Sher, if you like butterscotch, you might want to give Shuna's a try. :-)

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/007196how_to_make_butterscotch.php

[Kate]

You are my soul mate. Other than my recently discovered like of Nutella, chocolate typically bores me. I'll take butterscotch or vanilla anytime, anyplace. This looks heavenly.

[aforkfulofspaghetti]

It does all look rather gorgeous. I think butterscotch has become overlooked of late, as salted caramel has taken over the spotlight. A shame, 'cos as you say, butterscotch rocks!

[grace]

people can't understand why i love those butterscotch disks so much, so it's a relief to know that i'm not the only one out there who picks them out of the candy dish! :)

[Butta Buns]

So glad to see a butterscotch recipe that doesn't have a gallon of heavy cream in it. This looks so gooey and wonderful!

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

Honestly, I'd never take anything over chocolate -- but butterscotch sauce on chocolate ice cream might be the perfect dessert!

[Deborah]

Butterscotch is my favorite ice cream topping. This sounds perfect!

[Lina]

Oh my gosh! That looks perfectly delicious! :D

[Rosa]

Gorgeous! I love this sauce, especially over Cheesecakes!

Cheers,

Rosa

[Patricia Scarpin]

I'll be making this next time my brother and sister come to visit, Sher. Luscious!

[kross-eyed kitty]

Hi Sher,
I've really been out of the loop for a long while and I am SO terribly sorry to hear that Upsie has gone to kitty-heaven. Every week I had a good laugh at her funny little facial expressions, you could exactly what she was thinking!
I onw that Upsie had a wonderful home with you but I'd like to think that your sister and Upsie have found each other again and are slobbering each other with hugs and kisses and purrs.

[brilynn]

I just made butterscotch pudding yesterday, it's fantastic! And now I'm putting the rest in the freezer to eat as ice cream... which would be even better and more decadent with butterscotch sauce on top.

[baking soda]

oh...oh...next to caramel and bacon fighting for the spotlight! Thanks for the recipe, I know what we'll have for dessert!

[aria]

i love me some butterscotch too. nothing is better than butterscotch on soft serve vanilla ice cream i think! this looks amazingly delicious, I'll be right over!! (hope that's okay)

[Callpygia]

Alright, now you have me wanting some more of the stuff. I am with you on the salty sweet thing, I thought next time I should add a few flakes of sea salt on top..plus the salted nuts. So glad you liked it and shared.

[kristi]

I hope you're happy. You've succeeded in making me drool. And I, too, will take butterscotch over chocolate any day!

[Mrs. L]

If Nutella and butterscotch are your favorites, you'd fit right in at my house!

[Nick]

Yum yum yum. I've never made a butterscotch sauce, I love chocolate sauce too much. I'm not a nutella fan myself, I prefer homemade dark chocolate peanut butter (recipe on my site).

Although I have yet to make a peanut butter sauce, but that's the next obvious step for me. I just learned from Elise that you are from Davis as well? I thought I'd stop by and say hello! I just moved to Davis last September and started a food blog once I got out here. Great little town here and awesome produce.

- The Peanut Butter Boy

[Christine]

As with Peabody, my simple but all-encompassing reaction to your sauce and the superb photos is, "oh, Yum!"
Hey, I have the same little flowered pitcher!

[marye]

Butterscotch...I can't even type the word without drooling..YUM!

[Kevin]

That butterscotch sauce all over the melting ice cream looks really good!

[deb]

It has been years since I had butterscotch topping on ice cream. A big treat when I was growing up (and do not ask how many years ago that was!) was a sundae at the Dairy Queen. Butterscotch topping with a few little pieces of pineapple atop, oh...heaven.

[Glenna]

I didn't even read what you wrote about it because I knew I'd gain weight if I read how delicious that is. Didn't even need to. I nearly licked the screen itself in pleasure.

Wow!

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[Sherry]

I don't want to try a million recipes before I hit the jackpot. I am looking for a recipe as butterscotchy as the old Dairy Queen topping. Do any BS fans know who made that topping or a recipe as tasty?
Thanks
The other other Sherry