I've been thinking about caramel recently, and specifically about butterscotch. I've not found much on the topic as a unique confection but came across a a reference to a butterscotch sauce in MIchael Ruhelman's "Ratio" app for the iPhone. In this, he states that butterscotch is a variation on a traditional caramel (sauce) that uses brown sugar instead of white sugar, and that it also has a significant amount of butter.
The app claims that the ratio for a butterscotch sauce is; 1 part brown sugar, 1 part cream, and 1/2 part butter. The method is the cook the sugar and butter together and then to quench with warmed cream. I used a "dry cook" method by adding a bit of lemon juice to the brown sugar. I'm guessing that cream of tartar might be more effective to prevent crystallization (or some glucose).
For my first test batch, I cut back on the cream by 25% so that the resulting caramel would be more viscous for use in a chocolate bon bon. The consistency came out fine, but the flavor lacked something.
First, I'd like to ask; How do you know that the brown sugar is cooked to "caramel" without measuring a temperature? White sugar clearly darkens when cooking, but brown sugar is already rather dark at the start.
Do you make brown sugar caramel or butterscotch? Any advice?