When making caramel sauce, water should not be added to granulated sugar. In the 5 Hour Apple Cake, the recipe calls for making a syrup with 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water. However the result is crystalization (at least when I did it 3 different times). When watching Curtis he NEVER adds water when he creates a caramel...he simply stirs the sugar until it melts and caramelizes. Am I correct? Or did I do something funky when I attempted to follow the recipe printed out from the site.

I, too tried adding water unsuccessfully....frustrating! Then I just melted the sugar and added the whipping cream.....yummy! I just wonder how to keep the sauce from hardening......