Black Tea Caramel Sauce

Friday, December 4th, 2015 by

black tea caramel

Does a dessert exist that isn’t improved by caramel? We recommend trying this recipe with apple pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, bundt cake, brownies, ice cream, or skip the vehicle and eat it alone. The original recipe for this caramel sauce calls for Darjeeling black tea, but any black tea would work. Spiced Chai or Earl Grey would make excellent variations. There are three main steps to making caramel sauce: making a cream mixture, caramelizing the sugar, then whisking it all together with the remaining ingredients while everything is still warm.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon loose leaf black tea
  • 4 green cardamom pods, cracked
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon whiskey (optional)
  • Seeds scraped from a vanilla bean
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

In saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a simmer. Turn off the heat and stir in the tea and cardamom. Steep 3-5 minutes and strain, removing the tea leaves.

Pour the water into a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the sugar to the center of the pan. Do not stir. Swirl the pan gently as the sugar starts to dissolve. Let the mixture come to a boil then cook, carefully swirling only occasionally, until the syrup is a light amber color, 13 to 15 minutes. Lower the heat to medium and wait for the caramel to turn deep amber (it may begin to send up whiffs of smoke), 3 to 5 minutes more. Remove from heat.

Add a quarter of the hot cream into the caramelized sugar mixture. you may want to stand back for this part — the caramel will expand and release a cloud of steam. Whisk in that cream, then the remaining cream. Stir in the maple syrup, whiskey (if using), butter, vanilla, and salt, then return the pan to the heat. Simmer on low, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the caramel into a heat safe container. Serve warm.

Recipe adapted from Seven Spoons