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British

Butterscotch sauce

Vegetarian

Brown sugar melted with butter and golden syrup, then simmered with cream into a thick, glossy, deeply buttery sauce. It has no tricky caramel stage.

Butterscotch sauce is a British sauce from United Kingdom, ready in about 22 minutes and made with brown sugar, unsalted butter and heavy cream. It serves 10 and is rated beginner to cook.

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Prep
2 min
Cook
10 min
Rest
10 min
Total
22 min
Serves
10
Level
Beginner
Calories
188

Ingredients

10 servings (about 45 g)

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Put the brown sugar (opens in a new tab), butter and golden syrup (opens in a new tab) in a heavy saucepan (opens in a new tab) over medium heat. Stir gently for 3–4 minutes until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves into a smooth, bubbling mixture.

  2. Step 2

    Let it bubble without stirring for 2 minutes to deepen the flavour, then carefully stir in the cream; it will bubble up.

    • 3 min
    • medium heat

    Food safety: Molten sugar is far hotter than boiling water (160–180 °C) and sticks to skin. Use a deep pan, keep children away, and add cream slowly because it bubbles up violently.

  3. Step 3

    Simmer for 3–5 minutes, stirring, until glossy and thick enough to coat a spoon. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla (opens in a new tab) and salt.

  4. Step 4

    Cool for 10 minutes; it thickens as it cools. Serve warm.

    A finished dish being plated
    How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
United Kingdom · Commonly attributedButterscotch began as a hard sweet; Samuel Parkinson of Doncaster sold it from 1817. The pouring sauce made from brown sugar, butter and cream is a later British and American development.Also popular in United States, IrelandMore food from United Kingdom
Dish
Dessert · Sauces
Cooking method
Simmered
Taste
sweet, buttery, rich
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients · Low-carb
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No gluten ingredients · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-carb
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Child-friendly · Make-ahead · Festive & celebration
Cook more with
Brown sugar · Unsalted butter · Heavy cream · Golden syrup · Vanilla extract
Techniques
Simmering

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom unsalted butter, heavy cream

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

188 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 44 g · recipe makes 10

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 1%
  • Carbohydrate 36%
  • Fat 62%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g
Energy188 kcal428 kcal
Protein0.7 g1.5 g
Carbohydrate17.5 g39.9 g
Net carbohydrate17.5 g39.9 g
Sugars17.4 g39.5 g
Added sugars17 g38.5 g
Fibre0 g0 g
Fat13.3 g30.2 g
Saturated fat8.4 g19.1 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol39 mg88 mg
Sodium70 mg160 mg
Salt equivalent0.2 g0.4 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
43 mg
Calcium
28 mg
Iron
0.2 mg
Magnesium
3 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
134 µg
Vitamin C
0 mg
Vitamin D
0.3 µg
Vitamin B12
0 µg
Folate (DFE)
1 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • Golden syrup: Cane syrup (FDC 167743) used as a stand-in for golden syrup (partially inverted refined cane-sugar syrup).
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Dark muscovado makes a richer, more treacly toffee sauce, as used for sticky toffee pudding.

Common mistakes

  • Boiling hard after adding the cream, which makes it greasy as the butter separates.

Serve with

  • Sticky toffee pudding and banoffee pie.
  • Vanilla ice cream, pancakes and waffles.
  • Baked apples and bread-and-butter pudding.

Storage

  • Refrigerate in a covered jar for up to 2 weeks.

Reheating

  • Warm gently in a pan or in short microwave bursts.

Variations

  • Scotch butterscotch (United Kingdom): A splash of whisky stirred in at the end.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Goes with

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Customise in Sauce & Drizzle

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2

Make it milder, swap ingredients for your diet, change the batch size or thickness — the original stays as it is.

Customise in Sauce & Drizzle

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