Food 24 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. By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on October 20, 2023 Close 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 24 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. Get the Recipe 02 of 24 Over-the-Top Ice Cream Sundaes 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. Get the Recipe 03 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 04 of 24 Salted Caramel Brownies Jennifer Causey Chocolatey, fudge-like brownies get the ultimate upgrade with salted caramel. Get the Recipe 05 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 06 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 07 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 08 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 09 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 10 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 11 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 12 of 24 Chilled 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. Get the Recipe 13 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 14 of 24 Frozen Crème Caramel © Christina Holmes To make her crème caramel more refreshing, chef Amanda Hallowell serves it partially frozen, like a semifreddo. Get the Recipe 15 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 16 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 17 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 18 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 19 of 24 Salted Caramel Apple Pie © Abby Hocking Cinnamon and Angostura bitters keep this caramel apple pie interesting. Get the Recipe 20 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 21 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 22 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 23 of 24 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. Get the Recipe 24 of 24 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. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit