Salted Caramel

Salted caramel... mmm... Supposedly created by Henri Le Roux in Brittany (you still can buy "his" chocolates!), this dangerously addictive combination was once again made popular by the macaron maestero, Pierre Hermé, when he decided to adopt the flavour in his macarons. Ever since, our love for salted caramel spreads like wildfire, from the high end restaurants to the local supermart's home brand chocolates. This stuff is ubiquitous!

Some argue that salted caramel is yet another food fad, much like cupcakes and superfood trend; they come and they go. I beg to differ, of course. Some food are never meant to be out of trend. I mean NEVER! Think crispy bacon, oozing egg yolk and golden french fries, I don't think they will be out of trend. And it's salted caramel we're talking about here! Can never get tired of sweet and savoury goodness, chocolate (peanut butter) pretzels, salt on watermelon, prosciutto melon and yes, sweet potato fries, oh my god.

Salted Caramel (makes about 1 cup)
(recipe from Drizzle & Dip)

 200g     Sugar
   85g     Butter
 125g     Heavy cream

    4g     Sea salt, more or less to taste

1. In a saucepot, heat sugar over medium heat, till it caramelises and all the sugar has dissolved.

2. When the caramel turns to the colour you prefer (golden to deep amber), add butter in a few additions while whisking constantly. The mixture will splatter, hiss and bubble up quite vigorously. Work cautiously or wear oven mitts.

3. Slowly drizzle in the cream while whisking constantly till the caramel is smooth and homogenous.

4. Remove from heat, and whisk in sea salt till it dissolves. Let the caramel cool before using.

Optional
5. When the caramel has cooled, stir in additional sea salt, without dissolving it too much.

Thoughts: With just 4 ingredients and probably 15 minutes of your time, it's really easy to make caramel at home. If you buy caramel in the form of a squeezy bottle, save money and start making your own. You will love this so much more. If you don't like the salted version, melting in chocolate will equally rock your world.

It's important to take note of the colour change when making the caramel. Too light (too early), you will have a sickeningly sweet "sugar sauce" which lacks depth in favour. Too dark (too late) and it will be burnt. You "stop" the caramelisation by adding the butter. I prefer this deep, rich, amber colour to my caramel, slightly before it burns and reaches the point of no return. Takes a few practice before knowing when to add in the butter, and how you like it exactly. I have burned my fair share of caramel. Ieks.

There are countless applications for salted caramel. Use them in other bakes, swirl into your brownies, make into a cake frosting or sandwich it between 2 macaron shells like Mr. Hermé. If you don't bake, there are still many ways to lap up this sauce. Stir it into your drink, coffee, chocolate, tea, anything really. Pour over ice cream, cakes, cookies. Or just eat them by the spoonfuls when no one's watching. Salted caramel makes everything awesome. Drizzle them over some fruits and suddenly everyone loves eating fruits.

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