Caramel au Beurre Salé

My favourite recipes are those that make a giant leap between what you start with and your end result. The confiture caramel au beurre salé is the epitome of those recipes: It is simple to make, the ingredients may already be in your kitchen (it’s only sugar, butter, salt and cream) and the result is just incredible. I make it a lot for small presents when friends invite me over, and people always ask for more!

Caramel au Beurre Salé
or Salted Butter-Caramel Spread

300g granulated sugar
3 Tbsp water
240g butter, cut into small pieces
5g salt
200g cream (room temperature)

steps

Place the sugar and water in a saucepan, and cook on low heat until it turns golden brown. Do only stir as much as possible (see note below) or your sugar will crystallize. You want a golden caramel, not too dark or it will taste bitter.

Add the butter little by little while gently stirring with a spoon. (Be careful! The mixture is very hot; it sizzles and might splatter.) Add the salt and cook while stirring constantly until all the butter is incorporated. (The fat and sugar will come together as an emulsion).

Remove the saucepan from the heat, and add the cream. (Careful again, this might splatter as well! ) Mix until well combined. The mixture is now still liquid but will get firmer and spreadable when colder.

Pour into jars and let cool.

We eat it on bread, on ice cream (slightly warmed so it gets liquid) or as a dip for apples and other fruits.

The spread should keep for at least three months in the refrigerator.

A few notes on cooking the sugar: When you cook your sugar, stir as little as possible. It´s actually enough to just rotate the pan a bit. Cook it until you get a golden brown colour (about 5 minutes on the highest temperature, if you have a thermometer, 190° C is perfect, but don´t worry the range is not too small, a golden brown colour is as good as a lightly golden brown one, just don´t burn it.) Some people find it better to do this step without water. Adding water just makes it easier for you: it helps the sugar to heat evenly in the pan. All the water will be evaporated when your sugar gets golden so the result is exactly the same.