We almost let the month go by without mentioning it. How could I let this happen? My three-month review at NCA is today and I have to fess up to the fact that I have not spoken about caramel very much. Oh Susan, please have pity on a poor candy-loving soul like me.
So – caramel. Right. It’s one of my favorite candy flavors, along with butterscotch. When I was a kid my brother and I would take caramel squares from our mother’s baking cabinet and eat them straight out of the wrapper. Thinking about it now, I don’t recall my mother ever using them as an ingredient, although she must have. Why else would she keep buying them? Maybe because we kept eating them.
One of my favorites is caramel apples. Whether traditional or tricked out (a must-see!), this is a classic use of a time-honored sweet. The deep sweetness of the caramel blends beautifully with the crisp slight sweetness of the apple. The apple actually performs a functional duty as well, acting as a wet scraper to get the sticky caramel off your incisors.
How do you typically use it? Do you have a special recipe with caramel you can share?
4:57 pm on October 24th, 2008
Carl, while I cannot comprehend your love of the Circus Peanut, I am completely with you on caramel!!!! The last caramel apple I had was in New Orleans at a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and it was loaded!! Caramel, chocolate, M & M’s – and (Thank God) they cut it up for me. It was fantastic!! The only caramel I don’t like are those with the white stuff in the middle – do you know the ones I’m talking about? I don’t even know if they still make them. Thanks for a great reminder of the creamy, gooey treat!!!
5:31 pm on October 24th, 2008
Yes, they still make those – Goetze’s Caramel Creams. Yummy! I grew up with those, circus peanuts, gummy orange slices and the occasional licorice. I don’t remember having much chocolate in the form of bars other than for Halloween. I guess we were more of a “non-chocolate” family overall. It was a virtual candy heaven – circus peanuts included, just like in real heaven.
8:57 am on October 26th, 2008
I love most caramel candies including Caramel Creams. When I was a kid, my mom’s office building had a candy machine that offered a 12- or 16-pack of tiny versions of those. I ALWAYS picked it because it seemed like such a good value for my money. And, they are so good. I love them still. A couple of my friends are obsessed with them, too.