The One Ingredient Upgrade For A Caramel Sauce That's Divinely Silky

A good caramel sauce can transform a dessert, the decadent warmth adding layers of flavor and texture. Whether you're making monkey bread, French toast, or chocolate bananas, a drizzle of caramel sauce is a game-changer. But there's an ingredient that can change the game even more that you probably never thought to use: sour cream. While using sour cream in an easy-to-make layered cake is always a welcome choice, adding it to caramel sauce might seem surprising, but this is a trick we picked up from world-renowned pâtissier (pastry chef) Adriano Zumbo. The sour cream "... Adds a nice tartness and tanginess to the caramel," Zumbo says, adding that it can create something of a flavor-bomb, "... especially with a good hit of sea salt and lemon zest." 

"[Flavors] that pair well with sour cream caramel are mandarin, gingerbread, fig, milk chocolate, banana, toasted vanilla, and so many more," Zumbo says. He adds that to make your sauce pop, in addition to citrus, salt, and vanilla, look at ingredients such as "... tonka bean, black teas, spices like ginger, star anise, cardamom, [and] lemon verbena," Zumbo says. For those unfamiliar with some of those ingredients, tonka beans are a South American seed with unique notes of vanilla and tobacco, loved by pastry chefs in France. Unfortunately, they're technically banned in the U.S. due to containing coumarin, a compound that can cause liver damage when consumed in high enough quantities, though a recent influx of their use in restaurant dessert menus perhaps signals that their time of prohibition is coming to an end.

When it comes to how to best use sour cream in your caramel sauce, Adriano Zumbo says that it depends on your goals for the sauce. "If you want to achieve a texture enhancement from sour cream, then make sure it's the full-fat version," he says. You can also supplement it with other ingredients to further achieve your desired results. If you'd prefer a more liquidy sauce, first start with your base, which can be as simple as the unlikely pantry staples that combine to make caramel sauce. Then, Zumbo says, "I would mix it with some cream and add it in the deglaze step of the recipe, blend well to emulsify, and continue movement slowly when cooling down caramel for best results." By ending with a slow motion, like a stand mixer on the lowest speed, you will create a ubiquitous sauce that doesn't risk separating. 

Finally, Zumbo has thoughts for how to approach using the sauce as a cake filling or a confectionary drizzle. "I would cool the caramel to around 95 [degrees Fahrenheit] and add it in with a stick blender, along with the room-temp butter, to get more of a silky, velvety finish and pronounced [flavor] profile," he says. From there, you can play around with final taste, and consider adding an ingredient that can boost any caramel sauce.