Spreadable Orange Caramel: downright delicious with a multitude of uses. Keep a jar in the fridge to perk up pancakes. Get the kids dipping fruit into it. You won’t be sorry you made it.
Two simple words: orange and caramel. Put them together with the word spreadable:
Spreadable Orange Caramel.
I’m not sure I need to say much more, but just in case, let me tell you that this caramel contains orange juice and orange zest, vanilla, a touch of salt, plenty of butter and a healthy drizzle of cream.
Utterly. Wickedly. Indulgent.
And no, I will not apologise.
I’m not even a tiny bit sorry to be sharing such an irresistible recipe with you today.
I created this sauce for a Linzer cookie recipe, but having made it, I can think of too many good ways to use this spread that it would be a shame not to elevate it to its own dedicated recipe & write-up.
Here are my thoughts on how to enjoy this downright delicious Spreadable Orange Caramel:
- With pancakes – with or without a dainty dollop of whipped cream
- On toast – straight up
- On brioche
- Dripping into crumpets (oh my)
- With waffles – maybe with some fresh orange slices and some cream
- Slightly warm and drizzled over ice cream
- Served warm with poached or roasted plums
- Warmed and poured over vanilla cheesecake
- Whipped into buttercream & frosting
- Spread on a layer cake (and on top too)
- drizzled over an orange topped creamy Pavlova
- To sandwich cookies together
- As a dip – I’m thinking fruit kebabs and cookies
That’s quite a list to get going on and I’ll be posting my cookie recipe that makes use of this caramel shortly.
Reminder – Shrove Tuesday: pancakes + spreadable orange caramel sauce =
New to making caramel? I have some tips for you to help you get started.
📖 Recipe
Spreadable Orange Caramel
Ingredients
- 225 g/ 1 cup Caster sugar
- 100 ml/ ⅓ cup + 2 tablespoon Freshly squeezed orange juice
- 120 ml/ ½ cup double (heavy) cream
- 120 g/ ½ cup Unsalted butter – cubed
- ¼ teaspoon Sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon Vanilla bean paste
- Zest from 1 orange
Instructions
- Begin by putting the sugar and orange juice into a heavy based pan and stir it. Put the pan over a medium heat and allow the sugar to dissolve without stirring any further (swirl the pan a few times to ensure even cooking though)
- Turn up the heat slightly and let the sauce bubble until it begins to caramelise and turn mid-amber in colour (not too dark). It will take 10-15 minutes to get to this stage
- Turn the heat back down to medium. Add ¼ of the cream to the pan, stir well, then add another ¼ and stir. Pour in the remaining cream and stir again (adding the cream in small amounts reduces the amount the caramel splutters and spits)
- Add the butter in 3 or 4 batches. When all of the butter is melted allow the caramel to cook for a further 3-5 minutes stirring constantly
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the salt, vanilla extract and zest. Let cool for 30 minutes before decanting into a jar
- Once completely cool store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks
Lori
Would this work as a macaron filling or is it too soft and I would need to adjust for better stability.
Jane Coupland
Hi Lori, I’ve used it to fill biscuits before. It is a little loose, so if you are after a polished look that macarons deserve I’m not 100% certain this caramel is the right thing. That said you could pipe a firm filling around the edge and then fill the centre with this caramel spread. Let me know how you get along if you try it.
Lauren
Hi there, your recipe looks fantastic. I’m making orange and rosemary cupcakes later this week and wondered if the consistency of this caramel would be fine to fill the cupcakes with, or is it too heavy/sticky? Also, you mention this could be whipped into buttercream, do you know if this would work for a Swiss meringue buttercream? Thanks in advance
Jane Saunders
Hi Lauren, glad you like the sound of this – it should certainly be fine for using to fill cupcakes – it should have a consistency similar to a thick lemon curd. As far as the SMB goes I THINK it would work, but I haven’t tried it to know for sure. I’d be tempted to test it out by whipping up a batch of SMbuttercream and then stirring some into a small portion of it before committing to adding it to the whole batch. If it works it should be super yummy – great idea.
Scott
Hi Jane,
We have enjoyed your other recipes very much and found this one when looking for an orange caramel sauce recipe to add to my library of other caramel sauces. It is delicious and perfect the way it is!
I only have experience with my current caremel sauces and they don’t use butter, though I have seen others that use a couple tablespoons. Is the 1/2 cup amount to help with the spreadability? Have you made a orange caramel sauce with less or none? Looking to understand the purpose of butter in caramel and pros/cons of a little or a lot.
…Thank you Jane,
Scott
Jane Saunders
Hi Scott, thanks for your kind words – it’s always lovely to hear from regular readers whether they are getting on with my recipes just fine or have queries.
In regard to your question here, the butter is indeed there to bring the sauce to a good consistency for spreading (as well as providing a lovely, luxurious taste). I haven’t tried with less or no butter, but I would expect the sauce to be thinner – great for drizzling perhaps.
Of course, you could also try cooking the caramel (minus the butter) to a higher temperature to see if it will set (as in make an actual soft and chewy caramel rather than a sauce or spread). If you did want to try it out aim for 245°F once all ingredients are in the pan, then pour into a prepared baking tin lined with parchment.
Magi Mae
Thanks for sharing this recipe, it is delicious. Used candy thermometer and let reach soft ball range.
Had on homemade waffles it was Devine!
Jane Saunders
Ah, thanks so much for getting in touch. Thrilled you enjoyed it – on waffles sounds like a good way to go.
Zootsie
Your recipes look sumptuous. Am so glad that I came across them. Can’t wait to start making them.
I’d like to start with the Orange caramel and then make your Cinnamon Apple Apple Caramel ( My mouth is already flooded !! ) . I’d like to know how much would this recipe make ? What size jar could I use for this and also the Cinnamon Apple.
And if I can’t get hold of Vanilla Beans , can I use extract instead and how much ? Thank you in anticipation for your response. 🙂
Jane Saunders
Hi Zootsie and thankyou for your kind words. From memory both recipes make at least a regular sized jam jar (340g/ 12oz size) full of spread but I don’t think I’ve ever measured it precisely prior to publishing the recipe. Maybe I’ll make some shortly just so I can update the recipe as that would be useful information for readers. As for the vanilla bean paste – you could sub in an equal quantity of vanilla extract if necessary.
Julie at Hostess At Heart
A dollop on fruit would be amazing!
Jane Saunders
oo yes, I agree. Especially on some charred oranges
Julie B
Hi, as I am currently on the keto diet so I have made this using erythritol in place of sugar..I made half the amount just to see if it would work (erythritol is expensive !) It very quickly caramelized so it is a little darker than in your picture. Hopefully the taste will make up for that. It is still at the “cooling in the pan” stage can’t wait to try it!
Jane Saunders
How creative. I’ve never tried making it with sugar replacements, but I hope it tastes good for you. If you make again, it sounds like you need to cook for slightly less time if the caramelisation is too much. Thanks for letting me know how you got along.
Christine | Mid-Life Croissant
I can’t wait to try this. I am going to start with using it between two cookies. I’m drooling just thinking about it. My son will LOVE this. And my husband. And me. And my daughter. Guess that makes it unanimous 😉
Jane Saunders
In the middle of cookies you say? You read my mind – I have the perfect recipe for you coming out on Friday, Christine – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Meghan | Fox and Briar
Orange caramel – this is a totally novel combination and it is GENIUS. I love orange flavor and this just sounds divine!
Jane Saunders
Thankyou Meghan. I’ve just has some on my Shrove Tuesday pancakes. I recommend it 😉
Sam | Ahead of Thyme
Omg this sounds so amazing!! Thanks for sharing
Jane Saunders
Thanks Sam. Pleased you like it.
Barely Vegan
Orange Caramel?!?! You just blew my mind 🙂 This looks so creamy and delicious. I CANNOT wait to try out this recipe.
Jane Saunders
Thanks so much, Monique. You just made my day
Lois
Can this be made in larger batches ? Also can it be actually preserved for long term storage? I am thinking it would be fun to add to an ice cream topping basket for gifts.
Jane Coupland
Hi Lois, you can certainly double or triple the recipe – just make sure your pan is large enough to cook the caramel without the risk of bubbling over the saides.
I have to be honest, I have no idea of you could preserve this spread as you would jams and preserves. You could always test a small batch and see how it keeps…