With or without salt, you need a small-batch recipe for caramel in your life. You already know everything that it wants to be poured on–ice cream, cupcake frosting, whipped cream, your spoon. Heck, even your morning coffee is staring longingly in the direction of the jar. I used to be intimidated by homemade caramel sauce, and so I would buy it pre-made from the store. Then, I read the ingredient list on that stuff. Um, no thanks. I vowed to figure it out on my own. How hard could it be?–just sugar, water, cream, butter, and vanilla. I always have all of those things in my fridge, so I needed to figure it out. How great would life be if caramel sauce was always within reach? Answer: SO great. Before I figured out a handy little caramel trick, I made it quite a few times and ended up with lumps. (Delicious little lumps that I ate out with a spoon when the mixture cooled, but so not the goal). Every recipe states that if you have lumps, just put the mixture back on the stove and stir until they melt. The problem with that is that the caramel keeps cooking, and the longer you cook caramel, the closer it gets to the temperature where it turns hard. I wanted soft, supple, pourable caramel. (All I’ve ever asked for in life). I made homemade caramels in cooking school once (at the now-closed Tante Marie, sniff, sniff), and they were the soft, chewy caramels that you make around the holidays. I actually have a small batch recipe for homemade caramels. But again, I was looking for pour-ability. Drizzle-ability. Drink-ability. My tip is to warm the cream before pouring it into the molten sugar and water. When the cream is hot, the temperature gap is bridged slightly and lumps are less likely to form. Revolutionary, right? I know. I try.
Mauviel Copper Saucepan with Lid, 1.2 quart Weck Jelly Jar, SET of 6
