BN Cuisine with Chef Fregz: The Condiment Series | The Salted Caramel

Salut a Toutes!

Thanks for everyone that stopped by last week.I’m grateful to y’all for stopping by and hopefully you attempted the mayonnaise. {Click here if you missed last week’s recipe} I used mine for my event on Sunday for my shrimp cocktail. I almost finished it before the guests could try it!

Today we are going for something sweet. For me there are a few things better than life itself and somewhere in my top three is definitely Butter Salted Caramel. See, caramel on its own is great enough. I mean where does Coke come from? The day I discovered the awesome glorious taste of salted caramel I was ecstatic. Then I further discovered that for a true supernatural experience you add butter to the mix. It changed my life, I tell ya!

Today I’ve decide to share it because we go to ice-cream shops and we just assume it’s some factory made thing and we would never be able to achieve that, but ladies and gentlemen I assure you it’s pretty to easy to make. The only tricky thing is getting the sugar to the right colour and making sure you DO NOT TOUCH THE HOT SUGAR. Hot sugar burns aren’t sexy at all! That burn is hardcore. Please be extremely careful. Other than that it’s a couple easy steps and you have a delicious condiment for your pancakes at breakfast and desserts at whatever time of the day.

Truth be told I really never use a recipe I really eyeball everything and adjust till I have the right tatse. I would also urge you to do as well. For me I find cream tempers the strength of the sugar to solidify and go rock hard. Then depending on how fat I’m feeling, I tell myself I want a really silky smooth shinny caramel and I keep adding those cold cubes of butter till it feels like I have achieved world peace.

However, I would assume we all need guidelines still. So I have tried to put measurements to the ingredients. Please note that it is really a guideline. After the first time you’d feel more comfortable “winging it”

The recipe below yields about 500ml of caramel and that’s more than enough for a few couple of weeks in your fridge.

What You Need
220g Granulated sugar
1.5 cups/240ml Heavy/double cream
100g Unsalted butter cut into cubes
1/2 or 1 Teaspoon Fleur De Sel, Rock Sea Salt or Coarse Salt.

How To
In a pan, place the sugar and don’t allow it spread to the ends too much. Place pan on medium high heat and watch it slowly start to “burn” a.k.a caramalize- at the end/edges little by little.


When that starts to happen move the pan around all trying to push the uncaramelized sugar to mix with the already turned sugar.

When most of it has tunred to an amber thick gel substance, add half the cream and watch it bubble. Don’t be scared; just allow it do its thing. You could do the cream in 3 stages if you’re not feeling super confident.
At this point you can stir this with a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula.

Allow to simmer for about 6 minutes and add the cold cubes of butter. I usually prefer doing this off heat. The butter is better cold because it would thicken and give the sauce a better shine that way.

At the very end while still very warm, sprinkle the salt you’re using stir around gently and when it’s almost cool to touch then you can taste.

My Tips For The Perfect Caramel

Patience and a watchful eye. The most crucial part about this recipe is getting the sugar to amber and not black. Be careful to shake the pan around and no the tempted to stir it with a spoon.
Again DO NOT TOUCH THE HOT SUGAR.

Pour the cream in 2 streams: first time, the mix would bubble up. Allow that action to take place then pour the second batch of cream and leave to simmer gently to the rich caramel it was destined to be.

Use FLEUR DE SEL , COARSE or ROCK SEA SALT. If you’re going to try this recipe it is compulsory you use the salts I’ve mentioned. If you plan on using table salt or regular fine salt please don’t bother. Why?! Taste!

The fine salt is too harsh in flavour the rock and coarse salts have a lighter flavour and a little is what is required (in my own case the saltier the caramel the better. Of course not a case of salt water, but you get my drift)

Use the best quality butter you can get.
Add the salt just at the end.
Try not to eat it immediately.

For me salted caramel is destined for two things:
Ice cream and Pancakes.
The pancakes below were a treat and a joy to be photographed. Beatriace Olawale of Benedetto Photography was too kind to drive all the way to come and have these pancakes. Then she spent the first hour just shooting her food. The caramel shots almost ended a few of my muslim friends’ fast for which I apologise profusely!

Vanilla Ice cream and Salted Caramel is the truly the first thing I think God joined together. Also put some salted caramel in your hot chocolate and see how merciful God can be.

If you ever go to Ice Cream Factory in Lagos ask for their salted caramel ice-cream and thank me later. It is my best ice cream ever. For me it does very well next to Hageen Daaz sef.

Before I go, the Salted caramel features on the Chef Fregz Special Menu this Sunday! July 27th live at the GET arena! in Oniru Please bring up to your enemy and prove to them you have a God blood in you.

Check out the menu on www.cheffregz.com and also follow @chef_fregz on Instagram to stand a chance of winning a limited edition bottle of Möet and Chandon Rosé!

Salted Caramel Blessings Y’all!

CIAO!