25 Craveable Desserts Enriched With Homemade Caramel

It's easy to make caramel at home to enrich cake, flan, ice cream, candy, brownies, and plenty of pies.

Banana Caramel Sauce
Photo: Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Prissy Lee

Caramelized sugar makes pastries, baked goods, and plated desserts extra rich and flavorful. These decadent recipes include ways to make caramel at home with miso, wine, bourbon, and even banana. Plus, you can make your own caramel candy. Frost a cake, drizzle it over ice cream sundaes, and fill plenty of luscious pies with these craveable caramel desserts.

01 of 25

Miso Caramel-Apple Danish

Miso Caramel Apple Danish
Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Brush buttery miso-enriched caramel over wafer-thin slices of apple for the filling in this all-butter croissant pastry.

02 of 25

Over-the-Top Ice Cream Sundaes with Homemade Caramel

Ultimate Ice Cream Sundae with Homemade Caramel
Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell

Fully loaded with creamy fudge, salty pretzels, crunchy toffee, and chewy, bittersweet candied lemon peel, this over-the-top sundae gets drenched in homemade caramel sauce.

03 of 25

Fig and Caramel Nut Tart

Fig and Caramel Nut Tart
Photo by Caitlin Bensel / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Rich, barely bitter caramel, deeply toasted nuts, and chewy figs combine in a buttery crust for a dessert designed for pairing with Madeira. 

04 of 25

Salted Caramel Brownies

Salted Caramel Brownies Recipe
Jennifer Causey

Chocolatey, fudge-like brownies get the ultimate upgrade with salted caramel. 

05 of 25

Banana-Caramel Sauce

Banana Caramel Sauce
Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Prissy Lee

This super-fast sauce comes together in just minutes and makes a next-level topping. Chunks of sweet, ripe banana get pureed into the cooked caramel, yielding a thick, rich sauce.

06 of 25

Spiced Pavlovas with Oranges and Mulled Wine Caramel

Spiced Pavlovas with Oranges and Mulled Wine Caramel
Photo by Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Prissy Lee

The aromas and ingredients of Bavarian Christmas markets — glühwein, toasted almonds, spiced cookies — are infused into the components of the classic Australian dessert: a base of sweet, cinnamon-spiced meringue is topped with fresh tangy quark and crowned with bright citrus and intense mulled wine caramel.

07 of 25

Bunet (Chocolate Crème Caramel with Amaretti)

Bunet (Chocolate Crème Caramel with Amaretti
Photo by Christopher Testani / Food Styling by Melissa Gray / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Also known as bonet, Bunet is a creamy, rich custard from Piedmont in Italy. Amaretti cookies enhance the almond flavor of the pudding while adding a lovely crunch to the silky Italian dessert. 

08 of 25

Peach Ice Cream with Caramel-Bourbon Swirl

Peach Ice Cream with Caramel-Bourbon Swirl
Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Victoria Granof / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

Tart, buttery, and sweet, the caramel-bourbon swirl here balances the rich notes of the crème fraîche in this silky, swirled ice cream. Fresh, ripe peaches add a great bit of texture in every bite. 

09 of 25

Chocolate Puddings with Miso Caramel

Chocolate Puddings with Miso Caramel
Photo by Caitlin Bensel / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis

Miso-enriched caramel intensifies the deep, chocolaty flavor of these silky puddings from pastry chef Clarice Lam.

10 of 25

Vegan Coconut-Ginger Caramels

Vegan Coconut Ginger Caramels
Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

For these ginger- and chile-spiked caramels, plant-based fat from coconut replaces the typical butter, resulting in creamy, chewy caramels that are perfect for anyone on your gift list.

11 of 25

Miso Caramel Blondie Sundae

Miso Caramel Blondie Sundae

Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

F&W food editor Paige Grandjean gives the classic brownie sundae a makeover with a miso caramel blondie base, ribbons of hot fudge, and a nutty homemade whipped cream recipe.

12 of 25

Chilled Grapefruit-Caramel Meringue Pie

Grapefruit-Caramel Meringue Pie

© Tina Rupp

Layer pink grapefruit curd in a crunchy graham-cracker crust with caramel sauce in this cold, creamy dessert with a delicate topping of fluffy meringue.

13 of 25

Burnt Caramel Flan

Burnt Caramel Flan
Romulo Yanes

Let the requisite caramel sauce in this vanilla-flecked flan go a shade darker for a faint bitter edge that cuts through the dense, sweet custard. For a distinctly Cuban touch, top the flan with a rum-spiked whipped cream.

14 of 25

Frozen Crème Caramel

Frozen Crème Caramel
© Christina Holmes

To make her crème caramel more refreshing, chef Amanda Hallowell serves it partially frozen, like a semifreddo.

15 of 25

Caramel Layer Cake

Caramel Layer Cake
© Christina Holmes

For this lavish dessert, Nashville pastry chef Lisa Donovan slathers tender yellow cake with a fudge-like dark caramel frosting.

16 of 25

Salted Caramel Pie

Salted Caramel Pie
© Dana Gallagher

The filling for this super easy caramel lovers' dream pie is a simple combination of sweetened condensed milk and sea salt that's poured into a graham cracker crust and baked until thick and gooey.

17 of 25

Deep-Dish Caramel Apple Pie

Deep-Dish Caramel Apple Pie
© Abby Hocking

This mouthwatering deep-dish caramel apple pie is drizzled with a luscious homemade caramel sauce and topped with a crunchy oat streusel.

18 of 25

Salted-Caramel Squares

Salted-Caramel Squares
© Lucy Schaeffer

Acclaimed pastry chef Zoe Nathan loves pairing salt and sugar. Her bold salted-caramel squares combine tender caramel with a dense, buttery crust.

19 of 25

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Salted Caramel Apple Pie
© Abby Hocking

Cinnamon and Angostura bitters keep this caramel apple pie interesting.

20 of 25

Hazelnut, Nutella, and Caramel Ice Cream Sandwiches

Hazelnut, Nutella and Caramel Ice Cream Sandwiches
© Johnny Valiant

Use store-bought ice cream and Nutella to re-create chef Alain Ducasse's labor-intensive candy bars, made with hazelnut glaze and caramel pastry cream.

21 of 25

Soft Apple-Cider Caramels

Soft Apple-Cider Caramels
© John Kernick

These chewy treats are like caramel apples in candy form, combining the tangy-sweet flavor of cider with buttery caramel.

22 of 25

Golden Caramel and Chocolate Tart

Golden Caramel and Chocolate Tart
© John Kernick

Cookbook author Dorie Greenspan shares a luscious filling for this pastry that pairs with a nutty, caramelly Madeira for dessert.

23 of 25

Salted-Caramel Cream Puffs with Warm Chocolate Sauce

Salted-Caramel Cream Puffs with Warm Chocolate Sauce
© Christina Holmes

One secret to pastry chef David Lebovitz's irresistible cream puffs is the salted butter he uses to make the perfect caramel custard filling.

24 of 25

Caramel Cream Pie with Crispy Rice Topping

Caramel Cream Pie with Crispy Rice Topping
© Frances Janisch

Puffed rice cereal is transformed into a brilliant topping while graham crackers are crushed with hazelnuts to yield a tender crust for this surprisingly luxe dessert.

25 of 25

Caramel-Pear-Cheesecake Trifle

Caramel-Pear-Cheesecake Trifle

© Chris Court

This decadent pear-and-caramel trifle is perfect for a party because it can be made a day ahead and it serves a crowd.

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