caramel sauce

After getting several requests from readers for dessert sauce recipes, I added caramel sauce to my lineup of this year's edible gifts. Little did I know what I was getting myself into! On my first try, the sauce turned into a hardened mass of sugar — and the second time, too. The third mixture was grainy. After reading your suggestions, I gave Alton Brown's tried-and-true methods a chance, adding corn syrup and cream of tartar to prevent crystallization. Without a candy thermometer, I missed the mark a bit on trial four, and the sauce turned out creamy but slightly burnt. And the fifth time was the charm!

Through my many trials, I've learned the following: Have everything ready to go; don't turn away for a second; corn syrup and cream of tartar are your allies. You can succeed sans thermometer if you rely on sight and smell. And, most important, don't be afraid! It's not nearly as difficult as it sounds — and, once you nail it, you're golden forever. See my foolproof recipe when you read more.

Over the weekend, I was attempting to make caramel sauce as an edible gift when something went terribly wrong. The result? An epic caramel bourbon vanilla sauce fail. During my first attempt, I boiled the sugar and water mixture over medium heat — but before it could turn amber-colored, the mixture suddenly and unexpectedly became a hardened mass of sugar.

The second time around, I adjusted my method, fully dissolving the sugar first over medium-low heat. Then I boiled the sauce gently, occasionally swirling the mixture. But the mixture took longer than expected to turn caramel in color, and, after about 10 minutes of boiling, it too turned into a crystallized mess.

After two tries, I feel more determined than ever to figure this out. Do you have any ideas what might've gone wrong? Should I have cooked through the crystallization stage? Was the heat too high?