Every now and again, someone wanders over here looking for a recipe for a butterscotch sundae. That’s a pretty reasonable thing to expect to find here, I think, and it’s not like I don’t like cooking, butterscotch or ice cream. So here it is:

The Official Butterscotch Sundae of ButterscotchSundae.com
two generous scoops of vanilla ice cream
A healthy handful of crumbled toffee
Butterscotch sauce, and lots of it
Whipped cream (optional)
A maraschino cherry

Warm butterscotch sauce. Put the ice cream in a bowl. Sprinkle half the toffee over the ice cream, pour on the butterscotch sauce, and sprinkle the rest of the top over that. Add a dollop of whipped cream and top with a maraschino cherry.

No component of The Official Butterscotch Sundae of ButterscotchSundae.com is particularly difficult to make, but you’d have to be pretty dedicated to DIY to make your sundae entirely from scratch. I don’t know that I’ll ever be inspired to make my own maraschino cherries, but this sauce is so very easy that I could make it every day. (But I won’t. I do have some self-control.)

The Official Butterscotch Sauce of ButterscotchSundae.com
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons rum
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
a wee dash of coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Bring sugar, corn syrup, water and rum to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. OK, now put down the spoon/whisk/stirring device. Let the mixture boil, swirling it occasionally, for about 8 minutes, until it turns a light caramel color. Take the saucepan off the heat and drop in cider vinegar, butter and salt. Don’t stir. Swirl it around until the butter melts, then add the heavy cream and vanilla and swirl some more. Return to heat and whisk for about a minute. Let the sauce cool for about 30 minutes before you do anything else with it. (Especially: Don’t taste it yet. Ouch.)

The butterscotch sauce will get really thick once it’s in the refrigerator. I suggest scooping some out and eating it with a spoon warming it up in a separate bowl to pour on to your sundae. Ten seconds or so is sufficient in my microwave, but your results may vary. I didn’t have the ingredients for the Official Sundae on hand when I last made the sauce, so I used a little crumbled Butterfinger bar. But really, that’s not necessary either. Just the sauce over some vanilla ice cream is dreamy.