Butterscotch is awesome. Unadulterated awesomeness. The best part is that it’s easy to make and lasts a long time in the fridge. Assuming you don’t just eat it all right away. Which I of course have never done. More than once. Twice. Leave me alone.

Butterscotch is easy to make so long as you prepare beforehand:
4 tablespoons (half a stick) of butter (I don’t bother use unsalted but you can if you want more control over the salt content)
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
Vanilla (if you don’t have real vanilla extract, don’t bother, just use brandy)
1 teaspoon (or so!) Salt (kosher or sea salt are my preferences)
A whisk

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Turn the stove on to medium and melt the butter till foamy.

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You can also keep cooking the butter until it starts to brown a bit, which is what I do – I love browned butter. The pic to the left is just butter, I’m whisking it to move the foam away so you can see how brown it is. Then add the sugar in one big plop (right).

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Whisk lightly, at first it will look like wet sand (left), but after a couple of minutes it’ll get liquidy again.

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The mixture will start to get a bit foamy (left), which means it’s time to add the cream and WHISK (I missed the pic here – it blended super quick!) You can lower the temperature or take the pot off the stove before adding the cream and then put it back on the stove once it’s blended if you’d like.

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Whisk lightly for another few minutes (for me it’s usually about 3), and then remove from the heat. Add the vanilla and salt (maybe start with just half the salt). Give it a stir and a taste – but beware! – right now it’s seriously hot so don’t stick your finger in the pot. Dip a spoon in the mix and blow on it first! (Sorry about the patronising warning, but people just don’t take sugar heat seriously!). Add more salt if needed and voila – butterscotch! Once it’s cool (or while it’s hot, I don’t care) transfer to a microwave safe storage container and you’re set.

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I like using a microwave safe container since it will get pretty thick once refrigerated and you have to heat it up if you’re going to pour over ice cream (or onto an available sex slave, whatever). Here I have vanilla ice cream and pecans. Yum!