Every time you think the Salted Caramel fad is over, another recipe, product or variety pops it’s irresistible head onto a pudding menu, drinks list or deli shelf. In fact, it seems to have stuck around here in the UK (sorry) for long enough to exceed a passing phase.
Why? Quite simply because it is an exquisite combination. Sickly sweet, sensual caramel, cut through by a beautiful shard of lip-licking salty tang. In that perhaps now infamous article in Stylist magazine, Nigella Lawson explains that salted caramel actually has a drug-like effect on people:
“In a heady combination, [the fat, sugar and salt] stimulate neurons, which release dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with the pleasure centre, which in turn makes us want to eat more.”
Ah. So there is a scientific reason why I want to eat it straight from the jar.
The following is our trio of the best Salted Caramel products around at the moment:
Fran’s Salted Caramels
The Americans have always been good at sweet and savoury, and Fran’s Caramels are quite literally world-famous.
In fact, rumour has it that Fran makes a certain American president’s favourite chocolates. It’s all down to the balance of the flavours, and the Halen Mon Smoked Sea Salt Fran has handpicked for her sweeties:
Fran says : ‘Our Salted Caramels are a harmonious blend of complex flavours – rich smooth chocolate, our soft buttery caramel and the unexpected boldness of the smoked salt.’
Halen Mon’s Salted Caramel Sauce
Well, you knew that we were going to say this, but it really doesn’t get much better than this handmade Salted Caramel Sauce. Warm it up, drizzle it on hot porridge, apple crumble, homemade cheesecake, sliced banana…. The list goes on. You can get your sticky mits on a jar here.
Joe and Seph’s Salted Caramel Popcorn
This is the only choice that doesn’t count Halen Mon on its ingredients list, but we have to grudgingly admit that it does taste pretty darn good all the same.
Joe and Seph describes their handmade product as a ‘marvellous combination of sweet and salty’, and they’re not kidding. You’ll have finished a pouch before the film title song is over, we can assure you. (But if you’re reading, Joe and Seph, we think the flavour could get even better with a pinch of the best seasoning money can buy)
We could go on about salted caramel sauce until we frothed at the mouth, but we think we’d better leave it there. Now, where’s that spoon gone….
(you can read the full Nigella article here)