Melt the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fully melted and golden brown.
Stir in butter until melted and combined. → It will splash, be careful. If the fat from the butter separates, increase the heat and stir until combined. It will combine eventually, just keep stirring.
Slowly pour in dairy-free cream. → It will splash again, be careful.
Cook while constantly stirring for a few minutes. Stir in sea salt, pour it into a glass jar, and allow to cool completely before using. → Caramel thickens as it cools. I prefer to prepare the caramel the day before and store it in the fridge.
Chocolate Caramel Cups
Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a water bath. Brush each paper cup with it (using a basting brush), and place for 5 minutes in the freezer. → Place them on a plate for an easier transfer.
Brush them with a second coat of chocolate, and place for another 5 minutes in the freezer.
Fill each cup with one teaspoon of caramel and top it with one teaspoon of chocolate. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and freeze for at least another 10 minutes.
Store in the refrigerator for up to one week. You can eat them straight out of the fridge!
Notes
Makes about 20 caramel cups, depending on how large your paper cups are.You will eventually end up with some leftover caramel sauce, which you can either use to make even more chocolate caramel cups or to drizzle over your Latte Macchiato. → I don’t recommend making a smaller batch of caramel, simply because it’s easier to make with a larger amount of ingredients. I often double the recipe and use it for other stuff.I recommend using a dairy-free heavy cream which is suitable for cooking.Non-vegan version? If you don’t have dairy-free butter and cream at hand, swap the ingredients 1:1 with its dairy counterpart (regular butter & heavy cream).