Cooking: Caramel Syrup

Most days after physio I make myself a version of a Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino. There is a Starbucks in the hospital lobby that I walk past while leaving all thirsty, hot, and tired. The only way to avoid giving them all my money, was to start making the drinks at home. I usually buy their caramel flavoring but since I'm almost out, I decided to try making my own syrup. After combining a bunch of recipes online, I decided the easiest way to make the flavoring is to make the caramel and then dilute it further into the actual flavour syrup. 

It worked pretty well but I cooked it for too long so it turned into more of a toffee instead of a caramel. As a result, my first attempt at turning it into syrup was still too thick but my second batch turned out great. I froze it into caramel flavor cubes I could just pop in the drink so I wouldn't have to worry about it going bad (as I do not have any preservatives laying around). It's not as sweet as the Starbucks option or as strong (from the double diluting) so I think next time I'll add a bit more sugar and not cook it as long. 

Caramel Recipe: 
3 tbsp butter
3/4 cup brown sugar 
1/2 cup cream 
1 tsp vanilla 
pinch sea salt  
- Heat sugar and butter, whisk vigorously. Add cream, simmer on low heat for 5 min (no longer!!), stir frequently. Add vanilla and salt. 

Sugar and butter mix.

When I should have stopped simmering it as it really thickens up when it cools (for some reason I didn't believe the other blogs on how much it thickens as it cools, be warned!).

Caramel Flavoring: 
3/4 cup sugar 
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup caramel sauce 
- Heat on medium and mix together.

Caramel syrup!

Frozen syrup! The cube on the bottom left was after I diluted it for a second time. The other one was too thick and turned gelatinous instead of freezing.

My frapps: 
1 espresso or 3/4 cup coffee 
1/4 cup milk 
4 coffee cubes (I freeze coffee into ice cubes so the drink doesn't get watered down)
2 caramel cubes or Starbucks Caramel flavoring 
whipped cream 
- Blend together first 4 ingredients. Add whipped cream on top.

Caramel cubes ready for their debut.

Yum!