While it can be a finicky recipe, it only takes a few ingredients to make a classic caramel sauce. To whip up the silky spread, most recipes require staples like butter, sugar, water, and cream. (Or you can even turn olive oil into caramel with one extra ingredient.) Still, even if you don’t have these exact additions, you can usually get by with a few simple swaps. For example, if you don’t have cream for a traditional caramel recipe, milk can easily work as a replacement. But what happens when you use milk instead of cream in caramel sauce? To find out, we sat down with Kat of The Baking Explorer.
According to Kat, the milk in your fridge can replace cream in a caramel recipe — if you’re in a pinch, that is. Still, if you can make the trip to the grocery store for cream instead, do it. Cream is much thicker than milk, and its rich texture is a foundational part of what makes caramel cohesive. “Cream has a higher fat content and can withstand heat a lot better than milk can; milk contains more water content, which can disrupt the sugar and cause crystallization,” Kat says.
So, using milk instead of cream means a higher chance of your caramel coming out gritty. Luckily, there is a simple way to gain control. “You can heat the mixture until the sugar crystals dissolve,” Kat suggests. “Add a little more water to help this happen.”
When in doubt, stick to the recipe
So there you have it. For all those hoping to avoid holding onto a half-full carton of cream, milk can also work in your caramel recipe. Still, caramel sauce is deceivingly tricky to make, and no one wants a gritty batch. To further avoid that unappetizing fate, read our how-to guide on flawlessly caramelizing sugar. It also might be a good idea to use a lid while you’re cooking, as the condensation will stay in the pot and prevent the sugar from crystallizing on the sides. (Which could also fall into your sauce.)
Caramel might require just a few ingredients, but sugar is sensitive to high heat, and milk can easily curdle. To make the process as easy as possible, Kat says it’s best to stick to the recipe — even if that means an impromptu trip to the store for some cream. “I personally recommend always using cream, because caramel sauce can be tricky to make and you want to avoid introducing anything to the recipe that could cause issues,” she says. You can always use the rest of the carton to make a foolproof whipped cream. (Or, to make things even more stress-free, make the easiest caramel of your life with canned sweetened condensed milk.)
