Salted creme fraiche caramel

this subtly tangy caramel is perfect over ice-cream, or as a filling for sandwich cookies

I had some leftover heavy cream and creme fraiche I needed to use up this week, and so I made the quickest, easiest salted caramel sauce. Using creme fraiche to replace some of the heavy cream in a traditional caramel recipe lends a bit of soft acidity to this sweet treat. At room temperature, the caramel is thick and perfect for pouring over ice-cream. Chilled in the refrigerator, it becomes a little thicker–ideal for spreading between cookies, or cake layers.

Salted creme fraiche caramel

1 ¼ cup sugar

1/3 cup water

½ cup heavy cream

1 stick unsalted butter

2/3 cup crème fraiche

1 vanilla bean, scraped

1 tsp kosher salt (or ½ tsp table salt, to taste)

First, have all your ingredients pre-measured and close at hand.

In a skillet, combine the water and sugar over high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until the sugar has liquefied, and turned a dark amber color. (This will take about 10-12 minutes.) Immediately, stir in the butter. Turn off the heat. Stir in the heavy cream–it will bubble up, and then subside.

Finally, stir in the creme fraiche, scraped vanilla bean, and kosher salt. Let it cool to room temperature. Cover and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. (You can warm it up in the microwave before using if you would like it runnier.)

Posted: February 20th, 2010 under Uncategorized.