INTRODUCTION

Wisegeek has a very detail write up on salted caramel sauce. It was written that:

“Salted caramel is simply a caramel candy topped with sea salt. It was popularized by French chef Pierre Hermé in the 1990s when he invented a salted caramel macaron, which is an almond meringue cookie with a salted caramel filling. Soon after, American chefs began combining sea salt with a variety of sweets, including caramel and chocolate. The recent popularity of salted caramel candy has led to the incarnation of other confections such as salted caramel ice creams, cakes, cocoas, and flavored coffees. This popularity has also led to the confection’s appearance in more mainstream and less specialized stores. These retail locations can include grocery and discount stores as well as coffee and ice cream shops. “(Source: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-salted-caramel.htm)

This is a relatively new type of sauce that only recently appeared in cafeteria’s cake shelf.. To be honest, I have only tried once and it was a cake bought by my wife. We loved the cake as it taste like candy yet not overly sweet..It’s sweetness is negate by the saltiness.

My girl is talking about having salted caramel sauce to go with ice cream and I have decided to prepare a batch and use it for some cupcakes that I have baked for her..

This is a rather big recipe and don’t worry, you can always store in the fridge and  used it for cup cakes, bread spread, ice cream, cake glaze, nuts tarts and etc.. Most recipe have stated that it can keep for at least a month.  It practically goes well with any bakes that you can think off. In my recipe, I have reduced the sugar such that it is not overly sweet. You can also add salted caramel to your hot drinks like coffee and tea.

Theoretically, for salted caramel preparation, you will need to a type of sea salt called : fleur de Sel.. Hmmm, this is a French salt and i do not where I can get hold of these salts. I do have some coarse sea salt at home after preparation of pretzel but I cannot locate it. Therefore, for this recipe, I have use the normal table salt used for cooking..

I am happy with the salted caramel sauce. Yes, the family especially my girl likes it. For me this is an easy recipe and failure rate are low. However, there is one point  that need to be handle carefully, the caramelization of sugar. Inadequate caramelization of sugar will give you a light colour and over caramelization will burnt the sugar and hence yields a bitter sauce that is not edible.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 1 litre jar of salted caramel sauce

Recipe adapted from: Salted Caramel Sauce – Bake Then Eat

• 250 grams of salted butter
• 550 grams of white castor sugar
• 300 grams of heavy cream or double cream
• 2 teaspoons of coarse sea salt preferably fleur de sel

STEPS OF PREPARATION

• In a pot, put the white sugar and heat it under medium to high heat. Stir with a whisk or a wooden spatula. You will witness sugar crumbs to form before it starts to melt. Continue to whisk or stir until the sugar are melted and reach a rich amber colour. If you are using a candy thermometer, it will be about 180 degree Celsius. Once you over heat, smoke will emit and you will have to see if it can be salvage as the sugar can become bitter. Therefore to play safe, as long as the sugar turns golden brown before reaching rich amber colour, you can proceed to the next step.  Off the heat.

• Remove from heat, add the butter and you will see lots of bubbling and be careful of the potential splashing. Stir until all the butter melted.

• Add the sea salt and the heavy cream, stir until well combined. Store in a sterile container and keep in fridge. The consistency of the sauce will thicken when cool completely. Store in the fridge and you can use it for up to one month if your bottle is sterile and clean.

CONCLUSION

Melting sugar need full attention and you have to supervise closely. It can ruin your product in just a few seconds. If you are unsure, you can always off the heat earlier. What you get is just a lighter shade of salted caramel sauce instead of risking of destroying the whole batch. Another way is to use low heat throughout. It will take much longer but it reduce the risk accordingly as you have more time to observe and make decision. Remember, once it smokes, you caramel sauce will be bitter and you will have to throw away the batch.

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