Salted Caramel Sauce

Doesn’t it look tempting?! A big jar of gooey goodness and the uses for this jar of amber deliciousness is endless! Keep you eyes peeled over the next few days for a post about salted caramel cupcakes which involves using it to make buttercream frosting. You can drizzle it over ice cream, brownies or biscuits or then again you could try dunking apples in it – perfect for Halloween (check out this post from Pioneer Woman for inspiration)!

Ingredients:1 cup white sugar
30 grams butter, chopped into cubes
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup of cream (room temperature)
1 teaspoon flaky sea salt

Method:
Place the sugar in the bottom of a medium-large saucepan and head over a medium-high heat, whisking it until it begins to melt. Don’t worry when it starts to form clumps, these will dissolve.
Once all the sugar has melted and you are left with a clear liquid you can stop whisking and start swirling the pan occasionally while the sugar cooks.
When the sugar has reached a deep amber colour (a reddish brown) it is ready, the best way to be sure of the readiness is to use a a candy or instant read thermometer, your caramel will be 175°C when it is ready. Caramel can go from perfection to burnt in a matter of seconds so it is important that you keep an eye on things. It is at this point you can add the butter and whisk to combine it with the sugar. It will bubble up but keep whisking.
Remove your pan from the heat and pour in the cream, again it will bubble up but you need to keep whisking to ensure it is incorporated and you end up with a nice smooth sauce.
Sprinkle over your flaky sea salt and stir.
Set aside to cool for at least 15 minutes and place in a jar. Cool completely to room temperature before storing in the fridge. It will keep for about two weeks.

Banana Pudding with Caramel Sauce – made in a rice cooker!

This is yum!  The caramel sauce is addictive; I was such a piggy that I licked the leftover off the plate!  I was interested in this recipe as it is made in the rice cooker and the only thing I have tried making in the rice cooker before apart from rice has been a risotto, not exactly adventurous.  You do need to check the rice cooker every now and then to ensure it is on the right setting as specified in the recipe.

Ingredients:
Banana Pudding:
30g butter, melted, plus 60g extra
2 tablespoons brown sugar, plus ⅓ cup extra
1 small banana sliced, plus 2 extra, mashed
1 egg, lightly whisked
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup self raising flour

Caramel Sauce:
300ml cream
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
80g butter

Method:
Grease and line the base of a rice cooker bowl with baking paper.  Drizzle the 30g of melted butter over the paper in the base of the bowl and sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of brown sugar evenly over the top.  Layer the sliced banana on top of the sugar and set aside.
Combine the extra melted butter, extra brown sugar, egg, cinnamon, extra mashed banana and milk in a medium bowl.  Sift in the flour and fold it into the banana mixture gently.  Spoon the mixture over the bananas in the prepared rice cooker bowl.
Carefully level the top and cover.  Press the rice cooker to ‘cook’ and cook for 5 minutes.  Switch the cooker to ‘warm’ and stand for 10 minutes.  Put the rice cooker back on to ‘cook’ and cook for a further 3 minutes.  Switch it back to ‘warm’ and stand for 10 minutes.  Do not remove the lid during this process.  Repeat the process twice more or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out cleanly. 
Turn the pudding onto a serving plate.  Remove and discard the baking paper.

To make the caramel sauce:
Wipe the rice cooker bowl clean.  Add the cream, sugar and butter to the bowl and stir well.  Press ‘cook’ and bring to the boil.  Cook and stir for 5 minutes or until  the sugar dissolves and the mixture has thickened slightly.  Transfer the sauce to a heatproof jug.

To serve, drizzle slices of the pudding with the caramel sauce and plate with ice cream or whipped cream.