Homemade Caramel Sauce

Making your own caramel sauce is very easy- even though it sounds hard. It is a little dangerous though. Make sure there are no kids under foot and please do not touch any of the hot sugar or anything that has touched the hot sugar AND do not let it splatter onto your skin. It kills and will burn you. I got splattered on my hand and it blistered up and hurt really bad.
I kind of messed up and burned my first batch. Can you tell which one is burned?:) I thought it might be okay and when I tasted it, it was fine at first but then there was a horrible after taste. So yes, you do need to caramelize the sugar but you have to be sure you don't burn it. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
6 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup cream

1. First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go - the cream and the butter next to the pan, ready to put in. Making caramel is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients. If you don't work fast, the sugar will burn. Safety first - make sure there are no children under foot and you may want to wear oven mitts; the caramelized sugar will be much hotter than boiling water.

2. Heat sugar on high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir constantly with a whisk.

3. As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Continue to whisk vigorously until the butter has melted.

4. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note that when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) big.

5. Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.

p.s. I think I burned my first batch because I tried taking pictures while it was cooking. I wasn't stirring it enough....oops!