Spiced Caramel Squares (and How to Make Caramel!)

It's a Christmas miracle!

This is a really momentus moment. Like, super exciting for me.

I made caramel. REALLY GOOD CARAMEL. AND IT WAS REALLY EASY!!!

This is a big step for me. I’m ecstatic. And of course, the idea came from my cooking inspiration, my nanny.  As a kid, I’d remember looking though her cupboards, always searching for one thing – a can with its label removed (boiled off). And when I found that, the question I’d ask would always be the same- “...nanny, can we make banoffee?”

So, what my brilliant nanny does to make her caramel for banoffee is boiling tins of condensed milk. Basically, plop a few tins of condensed milk in a pan, and pour over enough water to cover. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 2.5-3 hours. The longer you boil it, the darker and thicker it will be. The only thing to be careful of is not letting the tins boil dry – because then they will explode and there will be a huge mess. I was a bit paranoid the first time, so I was checking the tins every 15 minutes and topping the water up every 30 minutes or so, so that all the parts of the tins were constantly submerged. I’m renting, I cannot deal with caramel on the windows.

Once you’ve cooked for the allotted time, remove the tins from the water and allow to cool completely before using. I cooked 3 at a time because that’s the most that would fit in my pot- plenty to be getting on with! The cans should last for a few months, but really take a day of prep by the time you cook and cool, so just get them cooked whenever you have a spare few hours. These are an absolute cupboard staple for me now.

Bubbling away

And of course I had to try some caramel on a recipe that basically had my name written all over it. 

Caramel squares are my second favourite thing to get in a bakery back home (first is peppermint squares) and when I saw a recipe with a delicately spiced base it was love at first sight. There isn’t much more to say except these taste amazing and you’re welcome and let's get this festive season of baking underway with a bang!

Ingredients

• 120g butter
• 55g golden caster sugar
• 150g flour
• 20g cornflour
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• Pinch ground coriander
• 1/2 can caramel (see above for home made method)
• Pinch salt
• 200g dark chocolate

Method

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees and grease a square brownie pan.

Cream the butter and sugar. Mix through the flour, cornflour and spices until a breadcrumb like texture is formed.

Press into the prepared tin.

Bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden.

Allow to cool.

Put the caramel you’ve prepared before into a bowl, and mix well with some salt.

Spread this over the cooled base and chill in the fridge for an hour.

Melt the chocolate carefully (I used the microwave because I’m lazy) and spread over the chilled base.

Back in the fridge to chill for a few hours or overnight.

Slice up and give to good friends.