This Christmas Spiced Caramel is full of delicious festive spices, drizzle it on everything and anything this holiday season! It’s so easy to make and so delicious!
Have you guys been listening to Serial? If you have, I’m only up to episode 7 so far so no spoilers please! If you haven’t, you need to start now! Right now! Okay, you can read this post and save this recipe first, but then listen! It’s a series of podcasts from NPR and you can download them for free from your podcast app (just search Serial) or you can download it here. No, I’m not being sponsored by NPR that would be weird (and awesome, I love NPR!) this is just totally worth listening to and I want to talk to y’all about it! If you’ve been living under a rock and have missed all the buzz around Serial – it’s a nonfiction story told week by week about a murder that happened 15 years ago, a young man was convicted of murdering his ex girlfriend. Nothing quite adds up though and Sarah Koenig has been digging through the case since last year trying to get to the bottom of it.
It’s really interesting, so gripping and really thought provoking. There’s so much to think about and you can go from thinking “yes he totally did it” to “there’s no way he did it” in the space of one episode. Go download it now, and you can thank me later! There’s 11 episodes so far, new episodes released every Thursday, I don’t know how many there will be total – I think they just keep going until they come to some kind of conclusion
Those who of you who have been listening to it, what do you think? Are you enjoying it? Do you think Adnan did it? If not, who do you think did? Remember, I’m only up to episode 7 so no spoilers!! Also, would be nice to keep your comments generally spoiler free for those who are behind me or haven’t started it yet! If you wanna talk to me about it in detail though, you can come chat to me on Twitter!
Okay, from one obsession to another – this wonderful recipe! Can you believe it’s only 10 days until Christmas?! I came to this realisation when I noticed I still have a tonne of Christmas recipes I haven’t posted yet! So expect Christmas overload on the blog over the next 10 days – you can’t have too much Christmas though can you? This is a great recipe to kick off the festive fiesta, it’s sooo simple and oh so yummy. And it’s a key component in another of my Christmas recipes, so keep an eye out for that! About the simple part – I don’t generally make my caramel the way most people do, I just like this one so much better and it’s really tasty, I’ve been making it this way for as long as I can remember – I’ve tried it the traditional way and I just plain prefer this one. There’s only 3 ingredients and there’s no melting sugar and there’s no need for a candy thermometer. The result is much like dulce de leche, but without needing to boil a can and worrying about it exploding all over your kitchen!
I have a particularly yummy recipe I used this caramel with that I’ll share with you very soon, but you can use this caramel on pretty much anything! You can use it in place of your usual caramel in any recipe to Christmas it up, you can pour it on ice cream, pancakes, cookies (yes, I did that) etc, you can use it as a sweet dip, you can eat it with a spoon (I did that too) or you can jar it up and give it as a yummy gift! It’s not only got the yummy caramel flavour, but with the cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg it takes it to a whole new level of amazing – your olfactory senses will be sent into heaven along with your taste buds!
This caramel is thin enough that it can easily be used as a sauce but it’s thick enough that it will hold it’s own as a cake filling. I use this recipe whenever I make Millionaire’s shortbread or caramel slices. It’s kind of like magic, whatever you need it for the consistency is perfect! I do tend to cook it for a tad longer if I’m putting it in Millionaire’s shortbread though, otherwise it gets a bit messy (but still yummy).
I hope you like this recipe, maybe you make some while you listen to some Serial (just don’t get too distracted, you don’t want burnt caramel!).
Come hang out with me on social media, we can talk about Serial and yummy things – you can find me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
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- 100g butter
- 5 tbsp golden syrup*
- 397g can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- Put the butter, golden syrup and condensed milk into a heavy bottomed saucepan. Heat on a low heat until butter is melted, stir occasionally.
- Bring to the boil, then immediately reduce the heat again and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. The mixture will thicken and turn a pale caramel colour after 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a couple minutes.
- Add the vanilla and stir in, it might bubble up when you add it so be careful.
- Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and stir to combine.
- Leave to cool for about 15 minutes, until it's cool enough to safely handle. Pour into jar and leave to cool completely before sealing and storing in the fridge
- *If you're in the US, you can use corn syrup in place of golden syrup if you don't want to pay a fortune for golden syrup
- Will keep in the fridge for up to a month.
- If you want it to set a bit firmer, cook for a further minute after it's turned pale caramel. Be careful not to cook for much longer than that though as it will easily go from setting firmer to setting rock solid in a matter of seconds!
Sharing with…
Fiesta Friday, Frugal Crafty Home, Time to Sparkle, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Inspire Me Wednesday, Create It Thursday, Cook It! Craft It! Share It!, Pure Blog Love, Foodie Fridays, Super Saturdays, Show Me Saturday, Scraptastic Saturday, Inspiration Monday, Motivation Monday
Thanks Michelle for another caramel recipe to try. I am becoming more comfortable making it, but as you said in a matter of seconds it could become quite hard. Practice makes perfect as they say 🙂
Yep, even with the many many times I’ve made this recipe, I still sometimes cook it a bit too long – usually when I’m distracted by something!
These pictures are beautiful. I could get lost in caramel.
Also my Hubby came home this week all revved up about Serial so I start listening this weekend. I’m only two episodes in and I am hooked!!
Thank you Meghan!
It hooks you in straight away doesn’t it? I’m going to listen to some more today, can’t wait haha
I love the idea of spiced caramel! You have outdone yourself Michelle! Easy to make and Spiced?
Can’t wait for the other christmas recipes! I am on a massive semi-permanent sugar high at the moment and I’m sure everything will crash and burn once Christmas is over… but I still have room for this! Love the pictures too!
Thank you Dini!
Yeah I think everybody needs a good detox after the holidays, but bakers in particular!
Mmmm, I have never thought to make spiced caramel but it sounds amazing! I’ll have to give your method a go as well, I don’t always fancy messing around with molten sugar…
Yeah the traditional way of making caramel definitely has it’s advantages, but this was is so much easier and really yummy!
Thanks 🙂
I’m all about Christmas-spiced stuff this week and can’t wait to try your festive caramel 🙂
Thank you Nicola 😀
Kudos on another fab blog post that looks super delicious!!! Spiced Caramel sounds awesome!! Thank you so much for joining in the celebration tonight on #PureBlogLove , we enjoy having you each week. I hope to see you next week on Thursday 8 pm est – through Sunday night.
Besos
Heidy
Aw thank you Heidy! x
Oh my gosh, I want to lick my screen. That looks de-lish! I need to make this. Thank you for sharing at Inspire Me Wednesday. Featuring you in next week’s issue.
Aw thank you Mel 😀
Michelle, this is a good twist to the classic caramel. You are so genius – this sounds awesome. Are you planning to take a rest from all of this kitchen activities of yours after the holiday? You seem to spend 27/4 at your kitchen. 😛 Thanks for sharing this, Michelle. And happy FF. <3
Thank you Jhuls 😀
Don’t worry, most of these were made before I headed out to the US, I’m just getting them all typed up on the blog now (which probably takes more time than the baking haha)
I’m planning to take a bit of a break after the holidays though
Happy FF to you too Jhuls, and thank you for hosting 😀
This looks like a delicious caramel recipe, I am thinking it would be great in banoffee pie, which I haven’t had in ages but is a great way of enjoying the flavor, although I am looking forward to seeing how you use it too!
Ooh yes it would be a yummy in a banoffee pie! I used it in my Christmas spiced chocolate cake this time but I think I might have to make it in a banoffee pie soon!
Thanks 🙂 x
I like the fact you don’t need a thermometer not everyone has one. This looks so simple and inviting. Thanks for sharing and linking up to Scraptastic Saturdays.
Thank you 😀
Yum! Caramel Sauce would be delish over so many things. Thanks so much for the recipe and inspiration.
Thanks so much for sharing on Show Me Saturday! Hope to see you again the first weekend in January!
~ Ashley
this spiced caramel is lovely though i added the spices whilst cooking as i didnt read it properly, still tastes wonderful, thank you x
I wouldn’t have thought that would make too much of a difference, I’m glad you liked it 🙂 xx