And while we’re at it: October is National Caramel Month
Only two days left, but still worth celebrating.
I’ve always had a certain devotion to caramel. But ever since the dread hand of chocolate-induced migraine descended on me several decades ago, and chocolate became a distant, poignant, and beautiful but bitterweet memory for me, caramel has become even more precious and beloved.
Unfortunately, there are three big problems with it. Only the first is obvious: it’s very fattening as well as sugar-laden. The second problem is that the quality of caramel has gone way way down over the years, with the ascendance of corn syrup as the main ingredient in all but the fancy gourmet varieties (and even some of them).
But it’s the third that is the unkindest cut of all to me, although you may never have even noticed it: the fact that it is very difficult to find a caramel-flavored or caramel-laced product that doesn’t also include chocolate. The culinary powers-that-be seem to have decreed that if it’s good with caramel, it’s even better with caramel plus chocolate. Of course, you can still get caramel squares—if you want to put your teeth at risk. And you can still get caramel topping for a sundae. But ice cream, cake, other caramel candy—nearly all has that soupé§on of chocolate that gives it that extra kick and makes it off-limits to me.
Come to think of it, maybe that’s for the best.
There is a small candy company in Indiana that makes THE BEST CARAMEL. I mean it — the BEST!!!! I have nothing to do with them, and no material gain to be made by plugging them. They just are THE VERY BEST CARAMELS IN THE WORLD!
http://www.abbottsalso.com/prod_caramel.htm
I love the plain, the nut, and the caramel apple caramels.
They also used to make these delicious “butterscotch” things, but I don’t see them on their website. I haven’t been able to eat them in ages (any sort of dental work makes eating those butterscotch things, uh, problematic), so I haven’t bought them in years.
If you are a TRUE caramel fiend, check them out!!!!
BTW, I have maintained that the world is divided into chocolate fiends and caramel fiends. Not to say that one won’t eat the other, they are just lukewarm about it. Me, I am a caramel fiend… I can live without chocolate… But caramel, NEVER!
Lee:
Thank you.
At least, I think I should thank you. If I become addicted to those caramels, maybe I shouldn’t thank you for leading me to that website.
Yes, almost impossible to find the simple wrapped caramel cubes that used to be a Halloween staple (and ideal for cooking).
Here’s a fabulous non-chocolate dessert with an easy, delicious caramel sauce (this is one of my favorite b-day cakes):
http://www.marthastewart.com/351254/apple-spice-cake
Music to eat caramel by:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD7TZyLeCfk
if you can find dulce de leche, that’s pretty close.
When I lived in the UK one of my favorite “candy” bars was Caramac which looks like a chocolate bar but has no chocolate in it and is caramel flavored.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caramac
Unfortunately only specialty UK shops in the US stock it.
I’m also wondering how you pronounce the word, I say car-a-mel but most people I know in the US say carmel.
London Trader:
I say “caramel” with three syllables.
I love caramel and always have. I also enjoy taffy but gave up both last year because I now have 2 crowns (neither broken tooth the result of eating these candies.) But the cost of a broken tooth and the resultant change in my bite, brings me to the place of “its not worth taking the chance”. Fannie May sells caramels, plain or with nuts, that are my all-time favorites.
Keep a sharp eye on the litter of boxes and other displays at the checkout stands of your pharmacies and markets (and bookstores and coffee shops and, well, any store). In the variety of states where I’ve lived, I’ve found small open boxes of locally made or small-brand caramels at the registers of some surprising places–closest right now is my local Rite-Aid chain. The candies, usually wrapped in waxed paper, are sold individually. I had to give up chewy candy years ago because of dental problems, but I still react like Pavlov’s dog at the sight of these little displays!