Sea Salted Caramel
The last blog before Christmas, where has the time gone? When it came to deciding the last edible gift idea to share with you, it had to be this one.
I pretty much make salted caramel sauce every week, and there is definitely always a jar in the fridge for emergency situations. It is lovely to have a jar you can give to a friend when they need some treating, and this time of year is the perfect excuse to give an edible gift.
It can seem like a daunting prospect to heat sugar and normally this involves sugar thermometers, but not mine. I make it based on the smell and colour so it couldn't be easier.
There are only a few ingredients needed and it will keep in the fridge, sealed in a jar, for a couple of weeks - perfect.
A few weeks back I shared a recipe for my perfect hot chocolate, and one fun idea is to add a squeeze of salted caramel to the bottom of the cup, before pouring on the hot chocolate. After all a hot chocolate can never have enough sugar!
Sea Salted Caramel
240g caster sugar
6 tbsp water
240ml double cream
pinch sea salt
Into a heavy based medium saucepan, place the sugar and water. Give it a gentle stir to combine and then put onto a medium heat. Do not stir it once it is heating as it will crystallise and you will need to start again.
Bring the caramel to a lovely golden colour, where it looks the colour of a deep golden syrup and should be smelling amazing. Use the photo below as a guide. It will take about 7-10 minutes
Instead of stirring give the pan a gentle, circular swish around to keep the colouring even.
Remove the pan from the heat and using a wooden spoon start to stir in the cream, keeping the cream pouring in a nice steady slow stream until it is all incorporated. The mixture will bubble up when you start to add the cream, so be careful, but keep stirring and it will calm down.
Once your caramel is smooth and golden, add a pinch of sea salt and then leave it to cool in the pan.
When cool, you can fill up your sterilised jar (see tips on sterilising in my previous summer strawberry jam blog) and then store in the fridge.
There are lots of ways to use your salted caramel; you could drizzle it over ice cream, mix it into buttercream to decorate cakes with or simply eat it as it is! But at this time of year, why not wrap it up and give it to someone you love…that it what I am doing with mine.
