Not all things can be perfected in one try. If it is your first time making a caramel sauce and it did not turn out as expected, keep on trying until you get it right. If you encounter some issues, try to find some solution. Who knows, you might be a recipe developer and could come up with one of the favorite recipes for caramel sauce.  For example, if you are using milk as a substitute for not having cream, you may end up with milk curdles. This can be due to sugar getting too dark or burnt, thus it becomes too acidic, before adding the milk. Using an old milk and/or not stirring the caramel constantly once the milk has been added may also result in curdling. If that is the cause, you can remove those milk curdles by using an immersion blender to smooth it out again. One of the normal, yet unusual reactions of the caramel sauce is the seizing of the caramel sauce once milk is added to it. Which means the liquid caramel hardens into a semi-solid clump and leaves you with a pot full of milk and a clump of caramelized sugar. If it is your first time to make a caramel sauce, don’t panic as the clumps melt back into the sauce. Just put the pot back into the heat and keep on stirring. It may take a while before all the lumps will melt but it will eventually dissolve.