Blood Orange Caramel Sauce

Just in time for Pancake Day, I have you covered. This blood orange caramel sauce is the most delightful and decadent thing outside of salted caramel. It’s not only the perfect accompaniment to your pancakes, but it’s just what your ice cream needs too.

Pancake day is one of the nation’s favourites. It’s certainly one of mine. Pancakes make memories. Who doesn’t remember tossing pancakes and the ensuing mess? Or even the thrill of success?

What Are Blood Oranges?

Blood oranges are mostly grown in Italy and Spain. As the name suggests, they’re actual real oranges. But the main difference is that the flesh is crimson. You can’t necessarily tell from the skin as it looks much the same as regular oranges, although you can sometimes see a red tinge. They’re sweet with a particularly intense flavour and a hint of raspberry. It’s well worth seeking them out.

The season is a short one, however, so don’t miss out. It runs from December to March, depending on what variety you buy.

The red colour comes from high levels of anthocyanin which is a powerful antioxidant. It’s claimed that anthocyanin has anti-inflammatory properties that help to prevent all sorts of diseases. But the general advice these days is to eat a rainbow of colours and get as much diversity into your food as possible. These blood oranges fit the bill nicely.

Not everyone likes the name blood oranges, so you may need to hunt around and ask. I bought mine under the name of blush oranges, which is a total fudge. I assumed, from the name that there would just be the odd fleck of pink to the flesh. But actually when I finally took the plunge and bought them, they were full on red.

With one beautifully crimson blood orange, I made two recipes. I used the juice for this blood orange caramel sauce. But with the zest, I made a batch of these spicy orange brownies.

Blood Orange Caramel Sauce

Caramel is a lot easier to make than you might imagine. And it only takes fifteen minutes from start to finish. Every time I make it, I wonder why I don’t do so more often. It’s probably something to do with the calories rather than anything else.

The sauce is complex and full of flavour with lots of tastes popping around in the mouth. It’s both sweet and tart and, not surprisingly, orangey. A pinch of salt stops it from being cloyingly sweet and a touch of honey adds to the overall flavour profile.

You don’t have to use blood oranges to make this aromatic sauce, but they do give a little additional depth and colour. The sauce will vary depending on what type of orange you use. Bitter oranges such as Seville, might work really well for a more sophisticated flavour.

Top Tips For Making Caramel Sauce

• Crank the heat up to medium high for the caramel. I had mine on 4 out of a possible 5. Leave to boil for 3-5 minutes or until the large bubbles become much smaller and it looks as though the mixture is starting to caramelise. Keep a watch on it continuously as it can burn very easily.
• Warm the double cream up in a small pan. It doesn’t need to reach boiling point, but this helps to stop the mixture seizing when you add the cream to the caramel.
• Either use the sauce immediately whilst still hot, or pour into a jar and leave to set. It will thicken as it cools. Seal with a lid when cool and keep in the fridge for up to a month. Reheat to serve it warm and runny or just pile spoonfuls over the top of whatever you fancy.
• This blood orange caramel sauce is lovely accompanied by some vanilla ice cream on top of these wholemeal pancakes.

Other Recipes for Sweet Sauces You Might Like

• Bailey’s chocolate sauce
• Blackcurrant sauce
• Easy chocolate sauce (vegan)
• Coffee cardamom chocolate sauce
• Lemon sauce
• Manuka honey and crème fraîche chocolate sauce
• Maple tahini sauce (vegan)
• Peanut sauce
• Stout caramel sauce
• Salted caramel sauce with optional smoky notes (vegan)
• White chocolate sauce

Keep in Touch

Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this blood orange caramel sauce, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.

For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?

If you’d like more blood orange recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious, of course.

Choclette x

Blood Orange Caramel Sauce. PIN IT.

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5 from 10 votes

Blood Orange Caramel Sauce

This aromatic sauce is the most delightful and decadent thing outside of salted caramel. It's not only the perfect accompaniment to your pancakes, but it's just what your ice cream needs too.

Cook ModeToggle to keep screen awake

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time15 minutes mins

Course: Dessert, Dips, Spreads & Sauces

Cuisine: British

Keyword: blood oranges, caramel, honey, oranges, sauce

Servings: 1 small jar

Calories: 930kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

• 90 g golden caster sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• pinch fine sea or rock salt
• 1 blood orange juiced
• 150 ml double cream (heavy cream)

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

• Place everything but the cream into a large pan and leave on a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Stir from time to time to see how it’s going.
  90 g golden caster sugar, 1 tbsp honey, pinch fine sea or rock salt, 1 blood orange
• Warm the double cream up in a small pan, but it doesn’t need to reach boiling point. This helps to stop the mixture seizing when you add the cream to the caramel.
  150 ml double cream (heavy cream)
• Crank the heat up to medium high. I had mine on 4 out of a possible 5. Leave to boil for 3-4 minutes or until the large bubbles become much smaller and it looks as though the mixture is starting to caramelise.
• Turn the heat off and pour the warm cream into the pan, scraping out any left behind and stir vigorously until the caramel stops bubbling.
• Either use immediately whilst still hot, or pour into a jar and leave to set. It will thicken as it cools. Seal with a lid when cool.

Notes

Will keep in the fridge for up to a month.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories: 930kcal | Carbohydrates: 111g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 56g | Saturated Fat: 35g | Cholesterol: 206mg | Sodium: 59mg | Potassium: 113mg | Sugar: 107g | Vitamin A: 2205IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 98mg

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.

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