Pumpkin Caramel Sauce Recipe and Pumpkin Caramel Popcorn
Posted on October 31st, 2012 by Becky || 9 comments
I must confess that this recipe for Pumpkin Caramel Sauce actually came out of a fail when I tried to make these Salted Pumpkin Caramels. I guess I didn’t get the caramel heated high enough because the caramels never set and I was left with a sticky sauce even after hours of waiting. But what could have been a kitchen disaster turned into a glorious mistake because I’ve been using this caramel sauce to top several delicious fall desserts.
First, I made a batch of homemade brownies and heated up the sauce to pour over the tops of each brownie. We literally kept adding more and more caramel to the brownie, making each bite like two-thrids caramel and only one-third brownie. It was decadent and we loved every bite.
Then we had an SLCmixer coming up with some bartenders around town who were going to be introducing new fall cocktails to our guests. I knew I needed some food at the tables so our guests didn’t leave plastered from the 4 cocktails and wine so I set out bowls of Pumpkin Caramel Popcorn. This may have been even better than the brownie combo. And for pumpkin caramel popcorn, all I did was to heat up 1 1/2 cups of the Pumpkin Caramel Sauce, add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda then pour over two bags of popped popcorn and bake at 250 for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Easy, especially when you have an excess of caramel to use up! And I’ve made this one other time since!
And if you want something super simple just pour the hot caramel sauce over vanilla ice cream for a cool fall treat.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted pepitas
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- dash of cloves
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cups light corn syrup
- 1/3 cup good maple syrup
- 1/4 cup of water
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in chunks
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Dry toast the pepitos in a skillet until they start to pop.
- In a saucepan, combine heavy cream, pumpkin puree, spices and salt. Get this mixture quite warm, but not boiling. Set aside.
- In a second heavy bottomed pan, with sides at least 4 inches high, combine the sugar, both syrups and water. Stir until the sugars are melted. Bring to a boil. Then slowly add the cream and pumpkin mixture, and slowly bring this mixture back to a light boil. Stir constantly for 15-20 minutes until the sauce becomes thick.
- Pull the caramel sauce off the heat and stir in the butter and lemon juice. Stir vigorously so that butter is fully incorporated.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and reheat in a double broiler before serving. (You could also reheat in the microwave in 15 second intervals until warm)
Notes
Serve over brownies or ice cream or use for Pumpkin Caramel Popcorn
http://www.thevintagemixer.com
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups pumpkin caramel sauce (depending on how caramel-y you like your popcorn)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 bags of popped popcorn (I used a naturally flavored popcorn not heavy on salt or butter)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Pop 2 bags of pop corn and place in a large bowl.
- Bring the caramel sauce to a boil, stirring to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add in the baking soda and continue stirring to incorporate the soda. Remove from heat and pour half of the caramel over the popcorn. Using a large spoon, gently stir and toss the popcorn to cover it with the caramel. Then pour the second half over the popcorn and sit again until the popcorn is well covered in caramel.
- Place the popcorn onto the baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
- Let cool to room temperature then serve. Caramel popcorn can be kept in an airtight container.
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WOW! Your pictures are gorgeous and this looks great.
Baking in Couture
Your pumpkin recipies look really great! I wish I could come over and enjoy them with you.
i was literally just thinking about how i need to try my hand at caramel – now that we’re not living in high altitudes everything is SO MUCH easier to recreate!
I agree that your pumpkin caramels flop turned out to be a big success thanks to your creativity!!!! I’m very proud of you!!!!
Daaang. That photo really captures the beauty of caramel. And with pumpkin seeds, heck yeah! I love when flops turn into new discoveries. I would make the caramel popcorn first.
Oh mercy!! How did you ever know that I needed that?!!!!!
How brilliant! I heart that brownie with caramel sauce!!
How come my mistakes never come out looking that good?! This seriously looks like the most decadently wonderful sauce, Becky.
[...] to a lovely blog we ran across in the past few months, the Vintage Mixer, we found a great recipe for pumpkin caramel and adapted it to work in this flavor. The pureed pumpkin is mixed with nutmeg, ginger, cloves, [...]