Full Tilt Scores With Its Gooey Good Caramel Sauce

Photo by Leslie Kelly

Go ahead and add some booze to your caramel sauce.

Justin Cline, owner of Full Tilt in White Center, the U-District, Columbia City and, by early next year, in Ballard, too, doesn't really use recipes. But he wrote down his version of caramel sauce that's such a hit at the ice cream shops. Read part one and part two of our interview with this good humor man.

Caramel sauce

1 cup sugar
5- 6 tablespoons salted butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
a pinch of fine sea salt
a dash of vanilla

Put sugar in a twelve inch saute pan over medium heat. This is all going to happen really fast so don't wander off. Leave the sugar alone. Don't stir it. Don't poke it, just leave it sit. It will start to liquify around the edges. Once about a third of it is starting to caramelize, give it a little stir. As little as possible. Once it is about completely liquid, you can start to stir it to get rid of the lumps. Some lumps are going to happen, but try and get it as smooth as possible. You are looking for a dark color. Not black. The sugar will start to smoke, and that is when it is ready. It is also really hot so don't stick you finger in there and try to taste it.

Add the butter. Things are going to get exciting, but don't panic. At this point you can turn off the heat and keep stirring. Slowly add the cream. If you add the cream to fast it is going to turn into a big lump of hard sugar. If that happens turn on a low flame and keep stirring until everything is liquid again for the most part. Add the salt and vanilla, and let cool slightly. If you want a pretty sauce strain it through a metal fine mesh sieve and discard the lumps.