Proud Mother

A few months ago, you may remember me telling you that I don’t make caramel.  What I didn’t tell you was that I don’t have to – because my 16-year old can do it for me.

After our trip to France this summer, she wanted to recreate the caramel macarons that she ate at Laduree.  Laduree is world-renowned for its delicate macarons, and well before we packed our bags, I knew we’d be visiting one of their sumptuous locations. 

We saved Laduree for a final stop on the last day of our trip.  After a week in Normandy, we spent our final night in Paris in a hotel just a couple of blocks away from the Arc de Triomphe.  The Champs Elysees Laduree was packed with fans waiting to buy their favourite treats, and we stood in line for twenty minutes on a rainy August evening making our choices. We dodged raindrops on our way back to the hotel to enjoy them at leisure, and no one loved them more than she did.

Thus, her determination to make them herself when we got home.  Luckily, a few days later, the Globe and Mail published a recipe for caramel.  She improvised the cookie part, but for the caramel centres she went strictly by the book.

Unlike me, she isn’t unnerved by vague directions like “take it off the heat when it turns an amber colour”.  Her caramel was a perfect colour and texture.  The finished product was absolutely delicious – I’d be embarrassed to relate how quickly we finished off those macarons. 

And if I ever get the nerve to make caramel, I know who my tutor will be.

When you make your own macarons, you can put extra caramel
sauce on top, just because you like it that way.

Salted Caramel

(from the Globe and Mail website, Lucy Waverman)

If you want to use the remainder of this mixture for caramel sauce, reheat it and add enough whipping cream to thin it to a pourable consistency.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 cup whipping cream, warmed

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Method

Sprinkle sugar and lemon juice over the bottom of a large frying pan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, until melted. Continue to cook until dark amber, then remove from heat and carefully add cream (it will sputter and pop). Add salt and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until cream is incorporated. Let cool about 10 minutes, then stir in butter. Cool to room temperature before using. Makes 1 cup.

Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/recipes-making-whoopie-pies/article1680199/print/