Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min
Ingredients
Makes about 1 1/4 cups
Step 1
Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a small heavy saucepan, then add pod and wine. Boil over moderate heat until wine is reduced to about 1/2 cup, about 10 minutes. Discard pod.
Step 2
While wine is reducing, bring sugar and water to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil, without stirring, washing down any sugar crystals on side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water, until syrup turns pale golden. Continue to cook caramel, swirling pan, until deep golden.
Step 3
Remove from heat, then carefully pour wine down side of pan (caramel will vigorously steam and harden). Simmer, stirring, until caramel is dissolved and sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in butter and serve warm.
• Red-wine caramel sauce keeps, covered and chilled, 1 week. Reheat before serving.
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Reviews (7)
Back to TopNice deep flavor. I used a Pinot Noir. Don't skip the vanilla bean. If you make it in advance and chill it in the fridge, it will get pretty solid and you'll have to microwave. I served this with pumpkin bread pudding and fresh whipped cream. Also, when making caramel be careful to remove the sugar from the heat right before it gets "deep golden" because it always darkens after you remove from heat and can very easily burn.
ksukris
wichita ks
10/22/2011
这么不寻常的美味!在5Spice Chocolate Cake from this site for a Year of the Tiger banquet - perfect finish to an Asian meal. I served the cake with green tea ice cream and had no problem with the caramel getting chewy - it kept its smooth saucey consistency even under the freezing ice cream. Simple and so different from regular caramel, and a gorgeous color, too.
Anonymous
Moscow, Idaho
2/21/2010
One addition to my previous review. This sauce keeps well in the fridge, and you can easily warm it back up in the microwave. However I do not recommend pouring it over anything cold. I tried drizzling over ice cream tonight, and on contact with the cold surface the sauce seizes up and becomes very chewy and tough. I'll stick with serving it over hot or room temperature things (I bet it would be lovely with poached pears...)
Anonymous
New York
3/23/2009
I made this sauce to pour over a sticky toffee pudding (I didn't want to make a cream-based toffee sauce as I was trying to make the dessert SLIGHTLY less fattening). I was very pleased with this substitution. The red wine gives the sauce a subtle (very pleasant) tang, but it feels rich and decadent and provides a nice crunch on the top of the cake when it cools. It would also be delicious just poured over vanilla ice cream. Will definitely make this again!
Anonymous
New York
3/14/2009
I was looking for an alternative to corn syrup based caramel sauces and this worked surprisingly well. The sauce was darker than I expected but the beautiful dark red-brown color was a visual hit. I didn't feel like investing in a vanilla bean so I added vanilla extract at the end instead. A vanilla bean would have probably created a deeper flavor.
Anonymous
Hartford, CT
11/7/2003
The sauce was wonderful. I made it just to see what it would taste like. I'm not sure what I would serve it with... ice cream.. an apple dessert?
Anonymous
Ontario, Canada
10/15/2003
This is a lovely sauce to serve with the pumpkin custard tart. If you are not used to working with caramel it looks like it won't work, but keep stirring and the caramel does all dissolve in the wine
Stephen
Lakes Region - New Hampshire
2/6/2002
