Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

Read more about our homemade salted caramel sauce, the ice creams it’s part of, and a little bit about the history of salted caramel

At Kastbergs, it is well known, almost a dogma, that we’re willing to take a detour to find and use the right ingredients in our ice creams. If this requires us to develop our own raw materials, this is not a barrier; on the contrary, we embrace it. There are examples of Kastbergs developing its own raw materials, with the most notable being our homemade salted caramel sauce, our unique chocolate developed in collaboration with Or Noir, and fruit-filled marmalades with Give Konfekture.

For this reason, we developed our own homemade salted caramel sauce, which is used in several of our ice creams. This sweet and salty flavor, which was first introduced in 1977 by the French pastry chef Henri Le Roux from Quiberon, added his region’s famous salted butter to the caramel mixture. Since then, salted caramel has taken the dessert world by storm.

The salted caramel wave gained popularity in the 1990s when the French chef Pierre Hermé developed a macaron with salted caramel. The macaron, which was already popular, became even more so. Since then, the sweet and salty combination has become a popular dessert trend, balancing two strong flavor profiles to create something delicious and satisfying. This combination is now used in Kastbergs’ signature ice creams, Kastbergs Salted Caramel and Kastbergs Banana Split.

In the image below, we use the homemade salted caramel sauce, which is gently stirred and spread into the ice cream.

Homemade Salted Caramel with Four Ingredients

There’s no doubt that caramel sauce is a fantastic product to use in desserts and is very popular. Kastbergs’ caramel sauce was developed by ice cream maker Joachim Kastberg and consists of only four ingredients: cream, sugar, glucose, and salt. This creates an intense and pure caramel flavor, while keeping the product clean and honest, free from unnecessary ingredients.

Making salted caramel sauce requires careful temperature control throughout the process. It’s not an easy task, but Kastbergs has perfected our recipe in collaboration with our supplier Give Konfekture to ensure that every scoop of ice cream has the exact right and consistent flavor.

Salted Caramel: One of the Most Popular Flavor Experiences in the World
From ice cream to macarons, this sweet and salty combination has taken the restaurant world by storm. But why is salted caramel so popular?

The immense appeal of this sweet and salty combination is simple, as blending two flavor varieties doubles the taste experience. Furthermore, people generally enjoy sweetness because it brings pleasure and comfort, while salt is pleasing (in the right balance) due to its flavor-enhancing properties.

For chefs, it is well known that combining different flavor profiles is a good idea. There are five primary taste experiences our taste buds can detect: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. Salted caramel combines two of these, creating an effect known as “flavor layering.” Salt also acts as a flavor enhancer.

The popularity of salted caramel continues to grow, and there are no signs of it fading anytime soon. It’s a versatile flavor that can be used in many different types of desserts or savory dishes—from ice cream to macarons and much more! And with its unique balance of sweet and salty notes, salted caramel has something for everyone, regardless of their food preferences!