Living the Justopian Life

Do you say Car-mel or Car-a-mel?

I think it’s a regional thing, but I say Car-Mel. Well, now I say Car-a-mel. I’ve trained myself. But I still say Flaar-da, Arrange (orange), mirrer (mirror) and draws (drawers). I’m sorry, it’s just a Jersey thing. Thankfully I don’t have the hair. Ok, I’ve got other hair problems, but it’s never big “Housewives of Jersey” hair. No No No

But back to Carmel (see, it’s even spelled properly – just as I pronounce it), youze guys. (I had to throw that in for Jersey effect, even though I’ve really never said it out loud. It’s something my fellow southern Jersey-ites say – usually they’re from south of exit 5-ish.

I decided to make Salted Caramel Ice Cream yesterday, but never quite got around to it so once I arrived home after errands this morning I headed into the kitchen and started the process. I’d picked up a jar of pink salt from Hawaii and low and behold, there was a recipe for Salted Caramel Truffles. How could I resist? I was going to head feet first into caramel-making so why not two batches? I also thought we needed more “happy” at work tomorrow and what better way to put smiles on my colleague’s faces than with little balls of deliciousness in the form of truffles?

Caramel is a bit of work, but nothing tremendous. It just takes care and diligence so that you don’t end up with burned sugar, or toffee when you’re going for caramel.

Sugar goes in a skillet or saucepan and melts with almost no interaction. Usually just swirling the pan does the trick.  Adding cream makes what would be hard crack (or candy-like) sugar into caramel

Constant stirring is key

And look at that smooth goodness

I added 8 ounces of semisweet chocolate morsels and let it sit for 5 minutes and then stirred to combine it into one silky smooth mixture

And then there was the caramel for ice cream

No chocolate, but it does get 3 eggs. The eggs are added to a mixture of cream and milk brought just to the boil and cooked until it reaches 170º or a custard consistency and is then added to the caramel.

The custard has to be chilled fully, 3 – 6 hours to ensure it will freeze properly in the ice cream maker. So we wait.

On the weekend I twittered that it was time to “Bring Happy to Work.” Who is Happy you may ask? Happy is not a noun silly, it’s an adjective. It describes a state of being I haven’t experienced in a while and I wanted to bring it to work. Food is always a good way to produce Happy, but working in an environment where we cook good food daily, the question became … what could I bring in that would trump Tequila Agave Chicken?? Ohhh, that’s not tough. Sugar! And ooooh, I knew how to make it happen.

It’s been a long time since anyone’s had Frannie’s Dulce Dumplings. I don’t make them often because it’s a mouthful of calories, but I wanted to do something my coworkers would not likely experience. See, I made up this recipe. Nothing terribly difficult, but the result … DEElicious! Wonton wrappers filled with a mixture of toasted walnuts, toasted coconut and Dulce de Leche. What’s that mouthful of Spanish you say? CARAMEL! Milk Jam!

Some make it the easy way by boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk until it’s thick, while others take the time to cook and stir sugar and milk into the sublime caramel, but this time I used up a jar of Salamandra Dulce de Leche. The Dulce de Leche from Argentina. I needed to use it before it crystalized and these little bites of happiness were just what we needed.

How great to be able to take a box of Happy to work. There were smiles all around.
Tomorrow, it’s smile-producing Salted Caramel Truffles.

Filed under: Food, How To