Simple Salted Butterscotch Whiskey Sauce

This is one of those recipes that I’ve made for years, but until now, I never used a recipe – Just gone off the look and feel of the sauce to determine what was needed. This easy, homemade whiskey butterscotch sauce recipe has so many uses! Try it drizzled over pancakes, a warm slice of banana bread, or even an apple pie. Enjoy!

Here’s why you’ll love this simple recipe

Simple is an understatement. Six basic ingredients, It’s delicious and made in under 10 minutes – It doesn’t get much better.

You can easily make this caramel whiskey sauce a day or two ahead of time – Just what we time-poor Mums need!

It’s a great recipe for those weekend nights when you just want a big bowl of ice cream and toppings. A classic butterscotch sauce but with a good shot of whisky to adult it up. Yes, please!

A few simple ingredients you need to get started 

• Unsalted butter – can you use salted butter? Definitely, you may need to adjust the amount of salt added or omit it altogether though.
  
  
• Whiskey – There is always a bottle of Irish or Scottish Whiskey in our house. I’ve used different ones over the years depending on what we have on hand. Lately, it’s been either Glenfiddich or Jameson in the cabinet, but I haven’t yet found one that didn’t work.
  
  
• Light muscovado sugar. If you don’t have muscovado sugar, you can also use light brown sugar instead
  
  
• Thickened or heavy cream
  
  
• Vanilla extract – A vanilla bean scraped of vanilla seeds will also do the same job. If you are after a smooth-looking sauce, use vanilla extra without beans as they will result in a grainy caramel sauce. Personally, I like seeing the vanilla seeds, but it depends on what you are trying to achieve.
  
  
• Sea Salt Flakes. Use a good flaky sea salt like Maldon salt 

What is muscovado sugar?

Muscovado sugar is pure unrefined cane sugar. Its natural caramel molasses characteristics impart a delicious depth of flavor to desserts and sweet baked recipes.

How is muscovado sugar different from brown sugar?
Brown sugar is white sugar that has been mixed with molasses to give a caramel flavor to recipes. Whereas muscovado sugar is the pure natural form that brown sugar is trying to emulate. 

Can they be substituted for one another?
Yes, they can. However, you will notice a depth of flavors in your recipes when you use muscovado instead of brown sugar. For this recipe I use light muscovado sugar, however, feel free to swap it out for brown sugar.

The nitty gritty

1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter on low heat.
   
   
2. Add the whisky and cook gently for 1 minute.
   
   
3. Add the sugar to the butter mixture and continue stirring until the sugar dissolves.
   
   
4. Increase the temperature to low – medium heat and add the cream and vanilla. 
   
   
5. Stir continuously until you are left with a shiny, golden color, silky smooth sauce.
   
   
6. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes before transferring to sterilized preserving jars. 
   
   
7. Drizzle the finished sauce generously over your favorite dessert or simply some homemade vanilla ice cream.

Equipment

A small or medium saucepan is ideal. If you find that your stovetop is especially hot you can also use a double boiler.  I use either a small whisk or a stirring spoon to mix the butterscotch sauce while it’s cooking. Measuring tools will also be needed.

What to serve this easy butterscotch sauce recipe with

A quick and easy homemade caramel sauce is so versatile. Firstly, drizzle over ALL the desserts. Think apple pie, bread and butter puddings, or even a pavlova.

​The ultimate caramel iced coffee would not be complete without whipped cream and a good swirl of caramel sauce.

Go old school and make ice cream sundaes and banana splits with ALL the toppings. Better still. Have you ever made a brownie sundae? Top these banana brownies with ice cream, and bananas (bonus points if you caramelize in a little brown sugar and butter in a frypan first!), and then drizzle with this butterscotch recipe. You won’t regret it!

Storage

Once cool, store in glass jars or an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

This caramel sauce will thicken when it cools. To reheat, either pop it in the microwave and reheat in 20-second bursts or place the sauce in a small saucepan and gently warm up on the stove.

Here’s a few more sweet recipes you might like

• Boozy Baileys Chocolate Truffles
• Balsamic Roasted Strawberries
• Apple and Blackberry Crumble
• Baked Biscoff Cheesecake Slice
• Spiced Apple Cider Doughnuts

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