Caramel

[spoons]

Hi,
Anybody got a gooey thick spreadable caramel recipe. To be used in between cake layers.
I've tried so many that are runny,saucy,etc. And kinda tired of experimenting w/ reducing this and that. I just want a thick recipe. Thanks.

 

[pastrychef_den]

You might want to add a thickener to your mix. Good Luck.

 

[thebighat]

It's at work so I can't quote it..a recent issue of Bon Appetit that featured Paris has a recipe from Pierre Herme involving French macaroons and a spreadable caramel filling.

 

[m brown]

a basic caramel

4 cups granulated sugar
enough water to moisten the sugar
caramelize to desired color and add:
3 cups heavy cream to arrest the process
4 ounces butter cubed
2 tsp salt
pinch of baking soda to colour

enjoy and be careful!

 

[angrychef]

Spoons, I think I saw a caramel topping recipe(which can be used as a filling) at the finecooking.com website. I remember trying it out and liked the consistency.

 

[spoons]

Wow thanks!

Bighat- got it right in front of me. pg. 219 looks good. ooey gooey.

M brown- I'll try it. Yeah, I got some battle wounds from making caramel long time ago. Nice scar to proove it. It just jumped out of the pan and stuck to my skin. Yeow!!!!

Angry- I printed it out. You know I forgot about that book, Beranbaum's Pie & Pastry. It lists some variations- Ruby Port Caramel, and Bourbon Butterscotch Caramel. Those sound good in a cake. (?)
Thanks- I appreciate it.

 

[w.debord]

D. how do I get to that web site, finecooking, I can't rememeber if I've been there??? tia

 

[kimmie]

TIA,

The address is www.taunton.com

 

[nancya]

I always end up burning it -- and sometimes myself -- when I try to caramelize sugar. Any tips?

 

[momoreg]

Add sugar little by little, melting each amount before you add more. The more you have in the pot, the longer it takes to burn. If you are only making a tiny amount, keep the flame low.

 

[isaac]

just watch your heat and pay attention to what you are doing. have a bowl of ice water by your burner and when you think you have reached the right temp and oclor, plop it into your ice bath to stop the cooking. just pay attention. sugar is not forgiving. be carefull when cooking and handling it. once it is burnt, there is no going back.

 

[w.debord]

If your burning it because you still have a few lumps of white sugar that aren't melting and your waiting for them to melt, then I do have the answer for you. But if your burning it and your-self because your not paying attention, oh well.

How to get your sugar to melt evenly....using plain reg. sugar mix in the smallest amount of lemon juice, like 1 tsp. to 3c. of sugar. Make sure you mix it in well so the whole pot of sugar is sandlike in consistancy before you begin melting. Then you'll notice the sugar won't go thru the stage where it turns into dry lumps (that you have to break up).

 

[momoreg]

I do that too.

 

[nancya]

Thanks for the help! I think perhaps the ice bath is the trick I need. Honest, W, I pay attention - it just seems to go from not quite the right color to burnt it a flash!

Thanks again for the tips!

 

[pastachef]

Thanks for the recipe, MBrown. I have some good ones, but they're at work and I won't be going back until August. I love to make butterscotch fudge. I'll take it over chocolate any day

 

[w.debord]

My carmel doesn't turn that quickly that I have to worry about going past carmel to burn, so I thinking maybe it's your pan? We have very thick pans at work....but I'm kind of thinking I can recall having a problem with a thinner metal pan before. I don't have to plunge my current pans in cold h2o to slow things down but I can recall working with pans where I did have to and it had to do with the thinness of the metal (or perhaps the type of metal)

Maybe someone else has experienced this more currently then I and can elborate?

Somehow because the pan is not real thick (or it's the type of metal and how it conducts heat) the metal brings the heat into you sugar quicker/more intensely so that does speed things up, which would them speed up the process of burning too. What kind of pan/brand are you using?

 

[nancya]

W, the last time I tried to make caramelized sugar, I was using andonized aluminum [Circulon] which I hated. I have since switched to stainless steel and haven't tried them on caramelizing yet. I never thought about the type of pan. That could be an interesting experiment.

 

[w.debord]

You must try it in other pans! You definatly will see a difference! More with the weight of the pan then the material. The weight really affects the speed of the melting.

We have very heavy aluminum pans (I think, it's hard to tell anymore their so abused) at work that work very well. This is one of those things that professional chefs don't really like to make at home, equpiment at home just isn't as good.

 

[kimmie]

I use an unlined copper pan for that. Never a problem...

 

[spoons]

Went to Willie Sonoma and they were out of Dulce de Leche in my area. Wanted to try it.
Has anybody ever made this? Seems so time consuming.

Is this stuff highly perishable? Can it sit in a cake left out for several hours?

Thanks