salted caramel pears

I never really liked caramel apples when I was younger. Then again, I never really liked apples either. Now pears on the other hand, pears I liked.

As usual I was browsing the net looking for inspiration & I came across a recipe for a salted caramel pie. To be honest, that sounded like a little too much caramel for my tastes, but the idea of salted caramel, now that stuck.

Naturally I started looking around a little more to see what else could be done with salted caramel. I found a salted caramel & cream jello recipe (no thanks). Salted caramel fudge (hmm, maybe). Salted caramel apples (still not the biggest fan). Salted caramel pie (too much). The list just went on! Eventually I came across the idea for salted caramel pears (bingo). On another site, someone else suggested rolling them in peanuts, I went against that idea & thought almonds would be a little nicer. And oh!

How about some shredded coconut

The first recipe I tried bombed. I mean it was awful! The caramel never thickened, it refused to coat the pears, it didn’t taste right at all. I briefly toyed with the idea of leaving a comment for the writer, but then I remembered that I’ve had unpleasant comments here & thought I would spare someone the unhappy read. Looking at the ingredients list was helpful though because as I scrolled through others, I knew which ones to mark off based on similarity.

Eventually, (after reading through many, many versions of this seemingly magical treat) I found one that looked like it might actually work. I made a few minor tweaks & voila! I present to you the magic that happened in my kitchen today. Although please, no more sugar. I beg you all. I need a sugar detox for a couple days I think.

Tools/Equipment:

Electric Scale - Etekcity - http://amzn.to/2xkKpQk

Candy Thermometer - Etekcity - http://amzn.to/2xklw7k

Silicone Spatula - Zyliss - http://amzn.to/2y3Srkw

Organic GF Vanilla - Simply Organic - http://amzn.to/2xXdt2e

Ingredients: – 8 to 10 pears – 200g almonds, toasted & chopped finely – 200g shredded almonds

Ingredients, caramel: – 372g sugar – 186g dark brown sugar – 150g salted butter – 250ml heavy cream – 160ml corn syrup – 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions: 1. combine all the ingredients for the caramel in a pot & place on the stove. Bring the mixture up to 120ºC making sure to stir constantly. 2. remove from the heat & allow it to cool for 20 or 30 minutes. 3. whilst the mixture is cooling, place the pears in the fridge & chill. Five minutes before you’re going to dip them, place the pears in the freezer. 4. roll the pears in the caramel until evenly coated, allow the excess to drip off & place on a sheet of baking parchment. 5. after dipping in the caramel, the pears can be dipped in a topping. I found that shredded coconut or toasted almonds worked best.

Helpful tip: * the rest of the caramel can be stored in the fridge for a week or two & just reheated when you want to dip more pears. Or it can be used for absolutely anything else you’re hear desires. * these pears need to be eaten within a few hours of being made. Because the caramel is supposed to stay soft enough to bite through with ease, it will eventually melt off the pears if left for too long. This is why storing the caramel is a great idea, just keep it, heat it up in the microwave & dip another pear when you’re ready for another one in a day or two.

#pears #saltedcaramel