Salted Caramel Recipe & Donut Macaron Template

MACARON RECIPE

To make the macarons, please use my Best Macaron Recipe

SALTED CARAMEL RECIPE

This delicious caramel recipe is adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Recipe is halved to make a small batch that can fill approximately 18 macarons. Remember to read my tips before starting.

Ingredients:

100 grams refined granulated sugar (not brown or powdered sugar)
45 grams butter
60 ml cream
1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt depending on your tastes
vanilla extract or whiskey if desired

Supplies:

tall and thick pot
heat proof spatula
oven mitts

Method:

1. Heat up cream in a small pan. Take off heat and set aside once you see it steam.
2. In a tall pot, heat up the granulated sugar on medium heat. It will get clumpy, vigorous stirring is not necessary . The outer edges will develop more quickly, use a spatula to drag this darker sugar into the center and then tilt pan from side to side to move the mixture around. If sugar does form on the sides, move over it with a wet brush.
3. Once the sugar is fully melted (it will be an amber colour, begin to smoke and foam a bit),  immediately add the butter. The mixture will start to sizzle and bubble up so be careful. Let it boil for 1 minute until everything is incorporated. Stir occasionally to break up the bubbles.
4. Slowly pour in the cream. The mixture will bubble up again, this time even higher. Let it boil for 1 minute. Stir occasionally to break up the bubbles.
5. Remove from the heat, stir again and add salt (1/2 to 1 tsp.) according to your tastes.
6. Add vanilla extract or whiskey if desired.
7. Leave the caramel on the counter to cool down. The caramel will firm up once it starts cooling down.

Tips for caramel success:

• Safety first. Caramel can be really hot! Keep a bowl of ice water around in case there is splashing and use oven mitts to handle pots and while stirring.
• Make sure pots are spotlessly clean before you start.
• Use a large or tall pot to account for expansion since the mixture will bubble up furiously. A thicker pot will help distribute the heat evenly. Do not use non-stick pans since high heat can damage them or cause them to release toxins. If using copper, make sure it is unlined copper.
• Always use a medium (or even low-medium) heat to ensure you don’t burn the sugar. Once it’s burnt, there’s no turning back.
• When melting the sugar, vigorous stirring is not necessary since pushing the sugars together will re-crystalize it and cause it to form into clumps. Tilt pan from side to side to move the mixture around.
• To avoid wide temperature fluctuations and make the cream easier to incorporate. Warm up the cream before you start making your caramel and slowly introduce it to the mixture by adding it in slowly. I like to heat the cream in a small pot with a handle and pour it in slowly. (The video shows me using a ramiken)
• At each stage, do not let the mixture over boil, this can bring the caramel to a hard crack stage and it will harden up like hard candy making it unusable for filling macarons.