Caramel Topped Sundaes
Caramel Topped Sundaes: Dorie Greenspan’s homemade vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce made one delightfully delicious dessert!

Caramel Topped Sundaes
My daughter, Katie, has about 5 dishes she will cook. Not a huge repertoire for the child of a foodie. Basically, they’re enough to get her by when she doesn’t like what I’ve cooked for dinner.
So I flipped through Around My French Table for a recipe to teach her how to make. She is one picky girl, so to pique her interest, I knew I’d have to start with the dessert section.
When we travel, and the food is not to her liking, she’ll often supplement with ice cream or gelato. A little protein, a little dairy…and no complaints. It’s not worth having a huffy offspring on holiday.
So when I spied Dorie’s recipe for vanilla ice cream, I thought it would be a wonderful basic dessert recipe for her to learn. Then we both spotted the warm caramel sauce on the adjoining page…and it became a two-for-one deal. We did a lot of licking of spoons and bowls as we created these Caramel Topped Sundaes made with Dorie’s Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

Food Revolution Day
Once again, the French Friday crew is celebrating Food Revolution Day. One of their ambassadors is our very own Mardi of Eat.Live.Travel.Write who offers this advice on what you can do to help kids get excited about food: “This year, for Food Revolution Day, Jamie Oliver wants everyone to “get kids excited about food”. If you’re interested in participating in your own community, the website offers many ideas for getting involved. Find a local Ambassador to see what’s already being organized in your area! Cook a meal from scratch with your kids using one of the official recipes. There are so many different ways to get involved!”
It was great to have a sous chef at my side to help stir, measure, taste test. We both loved the luscious caramel sauce and the creamy vanilla bean flecked ice cream. Thanks to Jamie for giving me the push to get Katie in the kitchen!
Check the Food Revolution Day website to see how you can get involved.

Dorie’s Vanilla Ice Cream recipe can be seen HERE. I used two vanilla beans as called for in the cookbook.
I have shared a slightly tweaked recipe for Dorie’s Warm Caramel Sauce before, so I’ll repeat it again here with my modifications noted.
Caramel Sauce Recipe
Homemade vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce pair together for a dreamy dessert
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons water (Dorie uses 3 tablespoons)
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- ¾ cup heavy cream, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (Dorie does not add vanilla)
Instructions
- Put the sugar, water, and corn syrup into a medium saucepan.
- Cook over medium-high heat, swirling the pan, but not stirring until the caramel turns an amber color.
- Lower the heat and carefully add cream and butter, standing away from the pan to avoid splattering.
- When the bubbling subsides, stir the sauce till smooth. Add vanilla.
- Pour into a heatproof jar (I use a Pyrex measuring cup).
- Cool to warm or room temperature before serving.
Notes
Slightly adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
2 tablespoonsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 195Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 20mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 0gSugar: 28gProtein: 1g
Thatskinnychickcanbake.com occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thatskinnychickcanbake.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Also, many recipes on thatskinnychickcanbake.com recommend toppings, which may or may not be listed as optional and nutritional information for these added toppings is not listed. Other factors may change the nutritional information such as when the salt amount is listed “to taste,” it is not calculated into the recipe as the amount will vary. Also, different online calculators can provide different results. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information obtained is accurate.

52 Comments on “Caramel Topped Sundaes”
I miss spending time in the kitchen with my children! Lovely recipe here Liz!
Wow, that looks so delicious!!! I think I need to look at that section again! I have a couple of kids who would love to make that caramel sauce. Yum!!! Happy you had such a fun time (and that you’re enjoying your trip!).
Now this is one FFWD recipe that I know I would have eaten as a kid! I would have licked the bowl. Some of Dorie’s other recipes can be challenging, even for an adult.
How fun! I think this will work out pretty well for you–now you have an ice cream maker on call whenever you have a craving. 🙂
Your daughter is so lucky to have you for a mom, Liz. I’d love to spend time in the kitchen with you, learning to cook, especially when it’s something as delicious as this ice cream and caramel sauce! I’m drooling!
A fun post Lizzy! Glad Katie enjoyed her time in the kitchen with you! That caramel sauce looks amazing. Have a great weekend!
This is more caramel goodness you are giving us, I can feel my waistline expanding 😀 It’s good to get your daughter cooking I hope she joins you more often.
Good call to add the vanilla – it does add another layer of flavour. I love homemade caramel sauce and although my tastebuds usually veer towards savoury food, I’d go straight to dessert if this was on the menu!
How lovely that you made this together with your daughter. And how lovely to make homemade caramel sauce. Mmm, I can think of several other uses for this sauce! (on apple pie, on brownies, maybe even a splash could be added to a stir-fry?)
Hi Lizzy, It’s so nice to be spending time in the kitchen with your sweet daughter, Katie! The feeling is mutual; I enjoy my time with Lora, when we get together making dinner a couple times a week. She does her baking, and I make the main course…the smiles on my grandchildren’s face is…priceless!
Hope you had a beautiful Mother’s Day!
BTW. thanks for sharing the Caramel Sauce recipe…(the best; printed it out)
xoxo
I love it when you cook with your daughter, I used to love cooking with my Mum. The caramel sauce is gorgeous. Have you seen that one done in a microwave? It’s so easy and takes less than 10 minutes!
Love this recipe Lizzy!
Ha my daugther would love this sauce!
She is like your dauther:)
Have a nice weekend!
What a fun activity for both of you! I love spending time in the kitchen with the girls.
I have a very picky eater that we have to manage around when we travel, and it’s ironic because her sister is completely adventurous when she eats. We too have had culinary “supplements” after a meal that didn’t please….
This looks delicious. A caramel topped sundae is always a welcomed treat.
Perfect for summer! Though even it’s almost winter here I wouldn’t mind having such sundae too 😀
Caramel sauce is always a special treat. I haven’t tried making it on my own since the whole boiling process scares me. I am getting closer though to tempting the process. Lovely!
Liz, I think every kid should learn how to make ice cream because yes, real food includes dessert. So much better to know what’s gone into your dessert and this just looks spectacular! Thank you for helping get kids excited about food this FRD2014!
Looks mighty good, even at 5AM:@)
More dirty bulking food. 🙁
Awww…what a sweet mom-and-daughter bonding. That photo surely doesn’t look anything basic to me :). It’s like a dessert item in a menu of an established resto! Bravo, Katie!
Julie
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