peanut butter caramel sauce.

Okay I'm just going to give a very functional commentary today because I have no idea what I could possibly write as a nice lead up to the peanut butter caramel sauce itself.

So. If I were to rename this sauce I would call it "Snickers Sauce", because that was the first thing that popped into my mind when I tasted it - a snickers bar. As enticing as this sounds, I advise you not to take even a half teaspoonful of it by itself because it is so rich it will knock you out for a second I swear. I would think that a reordering of the name of this sauce from peanut butter caramel sauce to caramel peanut butter sauce is more apt. The former suggests that the caramel sauce has peanut butter nuances while the latter represents a peanut butter sauce with a bit of caramel flavour in it, which is exactly what I think this sauce is. There is a ton of peanut butter packed in this sauce. I wasn't surprised that the sauce managed to thicken up so much just at room temperature it was almost at a spreadable consistency.

Then again, it could be because I made a little mistake when incorporating the peanut butter. After stirring in the last few ingredients, I found that there was a bit of hardened caramel stuck at the bottom of the pan and I had to reheat the caramel. I guess I must have applied too much heat and the sauce turned grainy and started to separate because the oils from the peanut butter started to seep out. I managed to save it and smoothen it out with a blender and a splash of cold milk but I guess it's just not the same as doing it right the first time.

I bet this sauce would go well with lots of things - brownies, with a refreshing sorbet, heck, spread it on toast if you dare. But I'm going to put this sauce to good use in something else, which I will show you in the next post so stay tuned!

P.S Feel free to check out my instagram!

Peanut Butter Caramel Sauce
adapted from here

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp light corn syrup
pinch of salt
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Heat the heavy cream until lukewarm.

Add the sugar and water to a saucepan and swirl the pan to combine. Set over medium to medium-high heat and bring mixture to a boil without stirring. Cook until the caramel turns amber in color and gradually whisk in the warm cream, mixing until the mixture is smooth. I highly advise you to check for any hardened bits of caramel at this point so you don't have to reheat the entire mixture again after the peanut butter is added. If some of the caramel seizes when you add the cream, just place the pan on low heat until it melts.

Remove pan from heat and stir in the peanut butter, corn syrup, salt and vanilla extract until combined and smooth. Transfer to a heatproof jar.

Once cool, store the sauce in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.