Creamy Caramel Filling for Cakes Tarts Desserts

This creamy caramel filling is luxury on its own with a melt in the mouth velvet texture. This simple, easy and effortless recipe takes no more than 15 minutes to make and will have you using it as cake filling, tart filling, pie filling, macaron, cookies or cupcakes. Made with condensed milk and golden syrup this is absolute heaven.

How has winter been treating you so far?

We've had some nice sunny days this last week which gave us the opportunity to go on a few day trips with the kids. Well, at least we are all feeling better now, no cold, no flue. Winter can be hard on the kids but honestly? I'm the worst at our house. There isn't a winter where I do not fall sick.  Last year I was down with severe flu and the cough lasted a good two months. This year was three weeks but because I compare it to last year I still feel lucky. ha!!

Well, I have a caramel sauce recipe already on the blog for you. In fact, my caramel sauce is really delicious and one that gets licked off the bowl to the very end. Which is why it's so popular on this blog. And yet I'm giving you a recipe for this filing,  you must be wondering what I mean by filling and why is it different from the sauce. Right? Hang on... I'll tell you more.

If you love caramel then you will love this better than any other caramel you have ever eaten. This one is really creamy and melts in the mouth.  It does not have the sharp burnt sugar taste or flavor.

I recently used it to make my Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart and had everyone rave so much about it. The center of this has the luscious caramel inside.

Caramel sauce vs. caramel filling

Now I don't want to confuse you - ideally, you can use the caramel sauce as a filling too but it's too dense and sweet - this caramel sauce is also sweet but much more creamy. That caramel sauce uses a fair amount of fresh cream but this one uses quite a bit of condensed milk so the end result is a more creamy melt in the mouthfeel.

• I would use my caramel sauce when I want to drizzle on cakes, ice creams or desserts. It's more potent. but
• When I need a caramel cake filling, caramel pie filling, or caramel tart filling - this is it. So if you order a cake from me with caramel in it? - this is the filling you will get inside the cake.
• If I made a dessert that has caramel as a filling? Well, most often I would use this recipe.
• The caramel sauce recipe, I use almost all the time a sauce to drizzle on things, not as a filling. If I need to make a caramel buttercream I would use my caramel sauce because it's thicker and more intense in flavor

So while they can both be used interchangeably each is unique and wonderful on its own.

Ingredients and substitutes

• Golden syrup - This gives this caramel that beautiful golden color but it is also an invert sugar which means it helps prevent crystallization.
• Brown sugar - You can use white sugar but I prefer the brown to get a darker caramel color.
• Butter - everything tastes better with butter could not be more right with this recipe. Add a nice richness to the caramel.
• Sweetened condensed milk - This is a great way to add a lot of cream without spending too much time stirring the mixture for hours. Makes the caramel creamy. You can make condensed milk at home in 5 minutes using powdered milk or you can make homemade sweetened condensed milk the traditional method
• Vanilla - You can add a different flavor to your caramel but I usually prefer to add vanilla first as a base then explore other options.

Step by step instructions (Save/Pin)

• Place brown sugar, golden syrup, and butter in a heavy-based saucepan.

• Let come to a boil.
• Reduce heat and cook until the butter and sugar are melted.
• Continue to cook until the mixture becomes darker in color.

• Add the condensed milk and let come to a boil on low heat again.

• Cook on low for about 5 minutes stirring constantly.
• The mixture will get thicker.
• Add vanilla - stir to combine.

• Set aside to cool slightly before you pour into a mason jar or fill a tart...
• Enjoy!

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