Exorcising the Caramel Demons

Back in February when I attended the Baking Boot Camp, we put together a cake that included a caramel ganache. Rick LOVED this cake and requested that I make it for him for his birthday. It's not every year that your husband turns 40, so of course I agreed.

A few weeks ago, I tried to replicate the caramel ganache using the recipe given to us at the Baking Boot Camp. It was an utter failure. We blazed through so many recipes during Baking Boot Camp that the caramel ganache process was a complete blur, except for the admonition by our instructor that we AVOID CRYSTALIZATION AT ALL COSTS. Because if your mixture crystalizes the caramel is ruined and also, it might cause the moon to crash into the Earth. (I wasn't entirely sure on this part.) My mixture did not crystalize, but pretty much everything else that could go wrong did. I'm still not clear where my missteps occurred. Rick's birthday is on Wednesday and I was determined to get the ganache right today. No recipe owns me. I was going to exorcise the caramel ganache demons!

So first thing's first: "I need an old priest and a young priest!" Oh, wait. I'm not trying to get rid of those kinds of demons. Well, it wouldn't hurt to start off with a little heavenly grace on your side.

WHIPPED CARAMEL GANACHE
1 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1/4 c. water
3 cups heavy cream
1/8 tsp. salt
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate (you can do semi-sweet, but I think it would make the ganache way too sweet)
1/2 c. (that's one stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Heavy cream vs. whipping cream
Will regular whipping cream work? Perhaps. USDA regs state that heavy cream must be at least 36% butterfat and whipping cream just needs to be 30% butterfat. Not a huge difference, but it might be enough to skew your results. And let me just say, I used whipping cream, not heavy cream in my fist go-round which may have contributed to the disaster. I decided to make sure it was heavy cream this time around.

As always, the first step in baking is always to make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature. This is especially important for this recipe. Pull the heavy cream and butter out of the fridge a couple of hours before you plan on trying the recipe. Or, if it's the summer and you have a hot enclosed porch, put 'em out there for 20 minutes or so. (Baking during the summer months does have its advantages.)

Second, grab a very clean pastry brush and a bowl of water. I like setting them out early so the sugar/water/corn syrup mixture sees it as it's going into the pan. Almost like a warning not to crystalize...or ELSE!

Place the water, corn syrup and sugar in a good-sized saucepan. How good-sized? I make mine in my 2 qt. All-Clad, but I think a 3 qt. would be a little better size for this recipe. At least, the carmelization would go faster. Gently stir the mixture with a spatula to combine. See those clumps on the sides of the pan? Those are sugar crystals. Get 'em off the side and into the liquid or you'll be sorry! The best way to do this? Dunk the pastry brush in the water, and brush it against the sides of the pan just above the crystals. All gone! Make sure you've cleaned the insides of the pan of all crystals before you...

Place the saucepan over medium-high heat. The recipe called for medium heat, but that takes FOREVER to carmelize. When I looked up other caramel sauce recipes online, most recommended medium-high. (Maybe if I was making this in a larger saucepan, I'd go with medium.)

Cook WITHOUT STIRRING until the sugar has dissolved. It's going to be a little hairy here as the mixture will froth up like mad as the sugar dissolves and you need to be prepared with the pastry brush to keep any crystals off the insides of the pan. N'inquiete pas, mes amis! Once the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has turned a nice golden color (kind of a pale yellow), it's safe to stir, but do so VERY carefully to prevent a flare up of crystals on the sides of the pan.

Why am I harping so much about preventing crystals? It's chemistry, folks, and we all know how I feel about science (bleh). Basically, once the sugar/water mixture crystalizes, you can't salvage it. It's a gritty mess and it's going to stay a gritty mess no matter what you do.

Turn the heat down to medium to medium-low. Now, the trick is to watch and wait for the mixture to turn a deep amber color. This could take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it as once it starts turning darker, it goes very quickly.

Once it has turned nice rich amber color (the darker the color, the more flavor you'll get, but too dark and it's burned), take it off the heat and add carefully and slowly add in the heavy cream while stirring the whole time. Careful, it's going to steam like the dickens. Return it to the heat. The recipe says to use a whisk to stir in the cream and I did this time around, but I think a spatula is a better bet. The caramel cools as soon as the room temp heavy cream hits it and it gets stuck in the whisk tines. Just use a spatula and keep stirring and it should be okay.

Keep stirring until the caramel is smooth again. This will take a few minutes. Add in the butter, chocolate and salt. Stir again until the mixture is smooth. Again, this will take a few minutes and the chocolate won't entirely combine in with the caramel. You'll still see little flecks of it in the mixture.

Take it off the heat and pour the mixture into a large, shallow dish or a large bowl and let it cool to room temperature. It will take at least 30 minutes, but maybe more. I set mine atop a couple of ice packs covered with a towel and left it for almost an hour and a half.

When you're ready to use it, transfer it to a bowl--unless it's already in one--and using a handheld electric mixer, whip it until it's lightened in color and it's creamy in texture--kind of like whipped cream, though a little denser.

I then toss mine in the fridge for a bit to really set it up. I use this ganache to layer a cake and it needs to stand up to the 3 layers. A soft whipped ganache just won't do.

I just checked and the ganache is perfect! Hope it makes it through the night because I'm not putting this baby together until tomorrow!