SALTED CARAMEL LIQUEUR TWO WAYS

Ingredients

Salted Caramel

• 120 gms – 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
• 100 gms – 7 tbsp unsalted butter
• 200 ml – ¾ cup heavy cream
• 2 pinches of salt

Liqueur

• 320 gms – 11 oz. Salted caramel
• 250 ml – 1 cup cream
• 300 ml – 1 ¼ cup milk
• 65 ml – ¼ cup alcohol 95% or 151 proof grain alcohol or the strongest available

Instructions

Salted Caramel

1. Put the sugar in a pan and let it melt on a medium fire.
2. When all the sugar has melted, let it caramelise until it becomes a very dark amber colour.
3. Remove from the fire and add the butter and salt. Stir well.
4. Add the cream and stir (do not worry if the caramel hardens at this point, it will still melt during the next stage).
5. Put the pan back on the fire and cook until the caramel reaches 108°C – 226°F on a candy thermometer (I have done this even without a thermometer… keep in mind that it will boil at 100°C – 212°F, so keep boiling it for a few minutes (see pictures below).

Liqueur

1. Add the cream and milk to the caramel and cook on a low flame until the salted caramel has completely melted.
2. Let the mixture cool down and then chill very well in the fridge.
3. Add the alcohol and mix well. Filter it through a sieve and bottle it.
4. Keep it in the fridge for a couple of days and shake well before serving cold.

Recipe Notes

This liqueur should keep in the fridge for a couple of months, though mine never lasts that long.

Salted Caramel Vodka Infusion

Turns out this is a really easy infusion. For each bottle you are making, you will need:

• 20 soft (chewy) caramel candies (approximately 150 grams)
• 1 750 ml bottle of vodka
• Pinch of salt

For the caramels, I used First Street, which is the brand for the huge bags of candy they sell at Smart N Final, and they had a very good flavor and texture. For the vodka, I went with Three Olives because this recipe needs a vodka that’s smooth and drinkable on its own. For the salt, anything will do but I used sea salt from Trader Joe’s.