Caramel Sauce

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean or 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions
Mix the water and sugar in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cover and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a medium brown, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Watch it carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly. Stand back to avoid splattering, and gradually add the cream and the seeds scraped from the vanilla bean (or vanilla extract). Simmer until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth and thick, about 2 minutes. Serve warm, or add another 1/4 cup of heavy cream and serve room temperature.
There were complaints about this recipe....I made it following the instructions exactly except I added a pinch of salt. I am not sure if it gets thicker as it cools but I was wanting a thick caramel sauce for the mini pumpkin cheese cakes. If it stays thin more like something for ice cream then I would decrease the heavy cream to one cup.
Update: The sauce was thick enough so no alterations need to be made to this recipe other than the pinch of salt.