You cannot get the Starbucks Caramel Brulée Sauce with your beverage at the store for most of the year. It is therefore a good thing you can buy a bottle to use at home at any time.

The Caramel Brulée Sauce is a rich, brown sweetener Starbucks uses to bring a festive twist to some of its holiday drinks. It’s quite the delicious sauce and it has made the list of my favourites since I discovered it last holiday after a friend recommended it. I previously ordered the same old holiday syrups year after year and had nothing to look forward to in the holidays. I can barely keep my hands off this sauce and have learned to make it at home to have it all year round. Read on to find out more, including how to make yours at home.

Table of Contents

Brief History of the Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce

Every holiday since 2005, Starbucks has designed a special beverage only available in the winter season. 2009 was the year that the Caramel Brulée sauce made its debut, as a sweetener for the season’s lattes, some Frappuccino, and steamers. Fun fact: Brulée is French for “burnt,” and in baking, it refers to a technique when a layer of sugar is torched to create a hardened, delicious topping. Caramel Brulée sauce mimics this sugary-smoky flavour.

Is Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce still available at Starbucks?

Starbucks caramel brulée sauce is offered with some of Starbucks’ festive season beverages only on specified dates each year, usually between November and January of the next year. Since it has remained one of the popular sauces since its introduction in 2009, we do not expect Starbucks to remove it from the menu this year.

Where to buy Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce

Making your favorite seasonal latte or treat at home at any time begins with purchasing a bottle of Caramel Brulee sauce. These are available on eBay, Walmart, or Amazon. The 63-ounce bottle comes with a pump, making it easy to dispense the sauce.

Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce (Ingredients, taste, calories, name variations)

What’s in a Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce- (ingredients)

So, what’s in Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce? According to the Starbucks website, this sauce contains corn syrup, sugar, milk powder, water, natural flavors, mono and diglycerides, salt, sodium bicarbonate, and soy lecithin. Fortunately, it only takes 6 basic ingredients and about half an hour to make a caramel brulée sauce that is just as good or even better than Starbucks. Let’s talk about each of the ingredients.

Sugar: As the name suggests, the sauce is basically sugar that is caramelized in a certain way to make the topping of the beverages it is used with look burnt. Use regular granulated sugar. I used a cup of sugar to make 2 cups of sauce.
Water: in order to cook the sugar until it’s a caramelized liquid, you need to dissolve it in water. Any clean potable water will do.
Heavy Cream: For this recipe, use heavy cream that is at least 36% milk fat. I found that whenever I use whipping or light cream, the consistency of my sauce does not come out right. I used the Bryne Dairy and Deli heavy whipping cream, but you can use any brand you are used to or like. Heavy cream is the secret to making thick caramel brulée sauce and its quality should not be ignored.
Unsalted butter: This butter is added to the hot liquid caramel immediately after it’s cooked. I like to add butter to give my sauce an attractive soft viscosity and additional flavour. I used butter that I had bought from the grocery store for this recipe.
Vanilla extract: To get the creamy vanilla taste that the Starbucks caramel brulee sauce has, I opted to use vanilla extract. Any brand would do, as it is a common kitchen condiment and is available in the baking section of most grocery or convenience stores.
Salt: A pinch of salt will do. Salt helps balance flavors and makes the sweetness stand out.

Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce: Nutrition & Calories

Nutritional facts

One pump of Starbucks Caramel Brulée has 50 calories, 13g of carbs, and 7g of sugar.

So, what does Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce taste like?

This Starbucks sauce tastes like a smoky, burnt caramel with a hint of creamy vanilla. It is delicious and, because of the smoky taste, better than caramel syrup.

Drinks (or foods) that use Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce.

After you’ve made your delicious caramel brulee sauce, the next thing is to test it. For this, you may want to draw inspiration from Starbucks’ beverages that use their sauce, which include:

Hot or iced Carmel Brulee Latte, which is espresso, steamed milk, Caramel Brulee Sauce, whipped cream, and Caramel Brulee crumble toppings.
Caramel Brulee Frappucino which is Roast Coffee, milk, and ice blended with caramel brulée sauce, whipped cream, and crunchy caramel brulée toppings.
Crème Caramel Brulee Frappucino, which is a blend of caramel brulée sauce, milk, and ice, with whipped cream and crunchy caramel toppings.
Caramel Brulee Crème Steamer, which consists of steamed milk and caramel brulée sauce with whipped cream and caramel brulée toppings.

Or customize any Starbucks beverage using it.

You can also use it:

As a topping for vanilla ice cream.
In a Mocha Frappuccino.
Drizzle over brownies or cake.
Layer it in a chocolate trifle.
As a dip for fruit.

Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce: Other names

There are no alternate names or nicknames for this sauce. We’ll be sure to let you know of any that may crop up as soon as they come to our attention.

How to make Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce at home: Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce Copycat Recipe

Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce Copycat Recipe

Kai Jordan

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Equipment

3-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan
A wooden or silicone stirring spoon.
Pastry brush
2-cup storage jar with lid

Ingredients

1/4 cup of water.
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of heavy cream
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Pour the sugar and water into the saucepan; stir before heating to ensure the mixture is an even flat layer.
Cook the mixture on medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture starts to bubble and turns clear. This will take 3–4 minutes.
Allow the mixture to continue bubbling for the next 8–12 minutes, all the time swirling the saucepan and brushing down the side if need be so that it does not burn or crystalize.
The mixture may form clumps, but let it cook until it turns into a thick, deep amber-colored liquid, more like honey.
Add in the butter and whisk with your spoon until it completely melts into the mixture. (Caution: the caramel will bubble more rapidly as you do this, so be more careful.)
Turn off the heat or remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the cream until smooth.
Add and whisk in the vanilla extract and salt.
Allow it to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring it to a storage jar and allowing it to cool completely before covering and refrigerating the sauce. The sauce thickens as it cools.

Notes

If you have a thermometer, you can use it to get precise temperatures for the caramel as it cooks to avoid over or under-cooking. A temperature of 338 °F (170 °C) to 350 °F (176.7 °C) is ideal. You will not achieve the right caramelization and colour. Over 350°F will burn the caramel and make the finished product taste bitter.
Avoid using metallic utensils when cooking. Wooden or silicone spoons are the best to use when making sauce.
Once the caramel has started to boil, remember not to stir. If you do, the mixture will form grains and ruin the smooth and creamy liquid. If needed, gently swirl the pan if needed without letting the caramel get too high up on the saucepan’s sides, as this will also make the sauce crystallize. You can use a pastry brush to push down any sauce on the side if need be.
If your sauce crystallizes even after all the caution, you need not worry. Just add about 1/4 cup of water and bring it back to a gentle bubble. The water will dissolve the crystals, and you can then go on until you get the desired caramel colour.
Be patient and stay put. The sauce takes anywhere between 8 to 12 minutes to cook, and since a minute can make a big difference in the quality of the sauce, the best thing is to stand over the stove, and pay close attention until it turns the right color before you remove the heat.
It is better to use unsalted butter and add salt to the mix than to use salted butter and end up with an unusable, too salty sauce. Using unsalted butter gives you better control. I recommend starting with just a pinch of salt for the caramelized brulée sauce.
Because the sauce has dairy from the heavy cream and butter, you’ll need to put it in the fridge after it cools down to keep it from going bad.
It will keep for up to 3 weeks in the fridge and up to 8 weeks in the freezer, so long as it is in a tightly sealed container. Because caramel solidifies when refrigerated, reheat it in hot water, on the stove, or in the microwave until it is liquefied enough to use. Note: Reheated caramel is thinner and runnier.

Informative Section

What brand of caramel brulee sauce does Starbucks use?

Starbucks uses the Starbucks Caramel Brulée sauce brand for their drinks.

Is Starbucks’ Caramel Brulee sauce vegan?

No, the Starbucks Caramel Brulee sauce is not vegan. It has dairy products in the form of milk.

Does Starbucks Caramel Brulee sauce contain allergens?

Yes, Starbucks Caramel Brulee sauce contains milk, which some people are allergic to.

Is Starbucks Caramel Brulee sauce gluten-free?

Yes. Starbucks Caramel Brulee sauce is gluten-free.

Is Starbucks Caramel Brulee sauce sweet?

Yes, the Starbucks Caramel Brulee sauce is sweet and tastes like smoky caramel with creamy vanilla.

What is the best drink to order that uses caramel brulee sauce at Starbucks?

The Caramel Brulee Latte, which is the second most popular holiday drink, is the best caramel brulée sauce drink to order. It contains signature espresso, 3 to 4 pumps of caramel brulee sauce, rich steamed milk, whipped cream, and crunchy caramel brulee bites toppings.

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Starbucks Caramel Brulee Sauce (Ingredients, Taste, Copycat Recipe, Calories, where to buy, and more information)