I'm making Georgetown Cupcake's caramel sauce recipe and it doesn't seem right (although it could be me!).
The first two ingredients are:
2 cups sugar
1 TBSP water
The first direction is: Heat on medium high heat and stir constantly until sugar completely liquefies. This wasn't working for me. Every other recipe I looked at called for more water. It didn't even get all of the sugar wet despite my constant stirring. I ended up dumping it out and using a different recipe. I didn't even bother finished this recipe to the end.
Caramel is just melted sugar. Caramel sauce is adding water, cream, butter or milk into the melted sugar once it reaches a certain temperature/color. So yes, this looks just fine to me, you didn't let your sugar melt. The water evaporates out in that process so the more water that you start out with, the longer it actually takes to melt. I make my caramel with NO water - just straight sugar.
Proper caramel making technique says you are not supposed to stir your sugar while waiting for it to melt otherwise you cause massive rocks and your sugar does not melt evenly. Meaning the sugar that does melt will burn before those rocks melt and you'll have a mess.
Learn from a real chef how to make caramel here, not some TV hacks that lucked into a cupcake business...
FromScratch summed it up.
I just want to add that I have found this nearly impossible to do without quality, heavy bottomed pans.
I do as much sugar work now as I bake. I use porcelain over cast iron pots and on some delicate recipes, I also use a quality diffuser to slow the process down.
That's the other thing... don't rush it. It will burn. And don't be afraid of a failure. When I develop a new recipe, I make it several times, taking notes until I get it right.
One more thing... if your recipe requires a certain temp, calibrate your thermometer before starting.
I have been looking at copper pots lately for sugar work. Williams Sonoma has a Mauviel for $145, with a built in pouring spout.
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