Decorative Caramel · GF (about a cup)Tweet

This is probably one of the easiest things in the Pastry Department Bag O’ Tricks. Whether enrobing chestnuts or hazelnuts in a glossy coating of caramel, or making a Florentine into a free standing garnish, it’s a simple way to jazz up desserts.

There are a hundred million ways to utilize this caramel, and it’s not my goal to cover them all at the moment, but rather to highlight a few simple uses.

Before you start

Since the caramel will go from liquid to solid in a relatively short period of time, having your mise en place will help significantly. The equipment you’ll need depends on what you want to create with the caramel.

Please read through this and make a game plan before you start. I’m breaking recipe-writing rules by putting this info at the beginning because I want you to succeed.

So figure out how you want to use the caramel, read the instructions to get a good feel of the steps required, and then assemble any equipment you’ll need to actually get the job done. Only then should you make up the caramel (recipe below).

Here are 4 ways to use this caramel.

Caramel Coated Nuts shown atop a Mont Blanc. Super easy. You’ll need a parchment lined sheet pan and some wooden toothpicks to skewer the nuts for dipping. Your goal is to secure the nut to the toothpick, so just push the toothpick in to the top of the nut by a fraction of an inch. Dip the nut into the caramel, let the excess run off, and set the caramel coated nut on the parchment to dry. Remove the toothpick once the caramel hardens.

Caramel Coated Nuts with a Spike a terrific garnish for chocolate torte. Just a tad tricky, but not really. You’ll need a parchment lined sheet pan, a heavy cutting board, and some wooden toothpicks to skewer the nuts for dipping. In this case, secure the nut to the toothpick from the side; push the toothpick into the nut just a fraction of an inch. Place the cutting board on the counter top, flush with the edge, and set a parchment lined sheet pan on the floor below.

Once you dip the nuts, rotate the toothpick so the “top” of the nut points toward the floor, then wedge the toothpick between the book/cutting board. The excess caramel will now drip down to the floor like a caramel icicle. Your floor will be cleverly protected by the sheet pan. Once the caramel hardens, remove the toothpick and invert the nut so the spike points toward the ceiling. Voila.

Making a Caramel Foot for Cookies Example here. You’ll just need some cookies, fully baked, standing at the ready, and a piece of parchment spread out on the counter. Florentines are my favorite for this type of project.

Some people like to use empty drinking glasses or jars as supports to hold the cookies up as they dry, but I hate to get dishes dirty if I don’t have to. If you dip the cookies two at a time, you can arrange them in a “T” and they will support each other.

Dip each cookie about 1/4” into the caramel, and let some of the excess run off, but not all. You need a little extra caramel to run down the cookie and pool on the parchment to form a “foot.” Make sense? So after dipping, stand the cookie vertically on the parchment paper, caramel side down, and hold it upright. Take a second caramel dipped cookie and stand it at a 90° angle to the first, so that a non-caramel edge of the second cookie touches the back of the first cookie. The two cookies will make a “T” shape and will support each other as the caramel hardens.

Of course, you can use any object to support the cookies as the caramel hardens, do what you feel most comfortable with.

Caramel Lace, a really easy multipurpose garnish.

Have a parchment covered cookie sheet standing at the ready. You will need this when the caramel is finished.

Make the caramel according to the recipe below. When the mixture has turned a nice amber color, shut off the heat and transfer the pot to a cooling rack or a pot holder.

Please use caution when drizzling the caramel, it is much hotter than it looks! Use a metal or wooden spoon to scoop out a little caramel. Hold the spoon over the parchment lined cookie sheet and allow the caramel to drizzle down to the paper. Drizzle the caramel into a pattern, whatever size and shape you like. You may need to experiment with the first few to get the hang of drizzling.

Allow the caramel designs to cool thoroughly before using or storing. To use, simply peel the parchment away from the caramel and garnish any dessert that needs a hint of caramel and a pleasant crunch.

To store, cut the parchment into pieces with the caramel still attached and store, stacked, in an airtight container. The caramel will keep indefinitely.

Okay, now that you understand what you’ll be doing with the caramel once it’s made, here’s the recipe.

Making the caramel

4 ounces water
8 ounces sugar
pinch of kosher salt

Make the caramel in the smallest pot you have that will hold the water and sugar (this creates more depth for dipping and also helps the caramel retain its heat/fluidity).

Put the water, sugar, and a pinch of salt into the pot. Put it on medium heat and just let it go. You don’t even need to bother with stirring; the mixture will stir itself up when it comes to a simmer.

The only thing you need to do is keep an eye on it. This will go from caramel to burned crap pretty fast, so don’t multitask. Let the sugar water simmer away until it begins to take on a caramel color. Shake or swirl the pan occasionally to “mix” and to get a good gauge on the color. When it begins to turn an amber color, shut off the heat and transfer the pot to a cooling rack or pot holder.

The caramel is incredibly hot, so please use caution while dipping and don’t touch it with your fingers. It looks really shiny and delicious, so it’s easy to forget how hot it is when a trickle of caramel runs down the side of the pot. Don’t touch it!

Now you’re ready to use it however you like. Follow one of the above sets of instructions.

Store the caramel-dipped-whatevers in an airtight container until ready to serve. The caramel is very sensitive to humidity, so it may become sticky if it’s particularly humid or if you don’t store them properly.

A note on clean up: The easiest way to clean your caramel coated pot is to fill it with water and bring it to a boil. Let it boil for five minutes or so, until the caramel is dissolved, then pour it down the drain.

Alternately, return the caramel pot to the stove top and heat it until it becomes fluid again. Then hit it with some heavy cream (oh, 6 ounces would be a good start) to make a simple caramel sauce. You’ll probably need to strain this to remove stray cookie or nut bits.

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Any questions?