Well, ok, actually it’s not. But it is the Monday before Sugar High Friday. You know what that means, don’t you? It means that if you haven’t already made your sticky-sweet caramel-based dessert, time’s a-runnin’ out!
The other day I was browsing in a used bookstore (one of my favorite ways to while away the afternoon) and I came across a hardcover copy of Elizabeth David’s Is There a Nutmeg in the House? I wasn’t familiar with this posthumously-published book, but I was familiar with the inimitable and veddy English Ms. David, author of the much-loved classic of food writing, An Omelette and a Glass of Wine. As I thumbed through the index, I came across a listing for CARAMEL DESSERTS. Bingo! I hadn’t yet made a final decision on what my own entry for SHF would be, so I turned to page 239. Here’s what Ms. David had to say:
Caramel creams, caramel ices, caramel souffles and mousses, caramelised apples are all delicious light puddings, simple enough to make. Once you know how to cook the sugar for the caramel, there are plenty of variations to be made on the original recipes. Why anyone should think it difficult to caramelise sugar is hard to understand, yet I’ve heard many people say that a caramel cream for example is “far too much of a nuisance”; and one must believe that they find it so, or would there be such a ready sale for packets of caramel custard and bottles of ready-made caramel syrup?
Exactly. Yeah, I bought the book. And I made a caramel over the weekend, admittedly not using Ms. David’s technique (I found one even easier). Ha! This is what I ended up with:
Not to worry, though, I still made something yummy, and caramelly, and I’m going to blog about it on Friday, Sugar High Friday. How about you?