Fruit Caramel Food

FRUIT CARAMEL

Steps:

• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until it all melts into a light gold syrup, 5 to 6 minutes. Continue to cook to a golden brown color, about 1 minute more. Carefully add the fruit all at once and reduce the heat to medium-low. The hot syrup may bubble and become foamy.
• Continue to cook, stirring constantly until any hard clumps of caramel dissolve and the fruit pieces soften and break down, about 4 minutes. Stir in the salt and heavy cream until there are no white streaks then remove from heat. Transfer to a bowl and use immediately, or cool and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
• Serve warm as a topping for ice cream, pies or tarts, or use as a caramel filling for layered cake or trifles. If cold, reheat gently in a small saucepan over low heat.

OVEN-ROASTED FRUIT WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Place the dried fruit and raisins in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to stand for 30 minutes, or until the fruit has plumped. Drain off all the soaking liquid, reserving 1 cup.
• Place the fruit and the reserved soaking liquid in a large saucepan. Add the wine, ginger, cloves, star anise, and cinnamon stick, place over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Immediately lower the heat to a low simmer, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the fruit is quite soft. Remove from the heat and drain well, discarding the spices.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Lightly butter a baking sheet. Spread the poached fruit and the nuts out on the baking sheet, leaving space between the fruit. Brush the tops with the melted butter. Roast for 10 minutes, or until the fruit is just beginning to color. Serve in individual bowls, drizzled with caramel sauce.
• Combine the brown and granulated sugars with 1 cup cold water in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Boil for 12 minutes, or until the syrup is a rich caramel color, brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush from time to time to dissolve any sugar crystals that form.
• Taking care as the syrup may bubble over, whisk in the corn syrup, lemon juice, and vanilla and bring to a simmer. Carefully whisk in the cream, bring to a boil, and boil gently for 10 minutes, or until the sauce is thick. Whisk in the butter and serve hot.

CARAMEL-DIPPED FRUIT

Steps:

• Place the water, sugar, and corn syrup in a 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. The corn syrup will make the cooked sugar harder and crunchier; it will also help prevent the cooked sugar from melting as quickly when it reacts to the humidity in the air. Insert a candy thermometer and cook the sugar mixture to 311 degrees F (155 degrees C), what is known as the hard crack stage. Stir the sugar slowly as it cooks to ensure that it cooks evenly. If you do not stir it, the mixture will develop hot spots and the sugar will cook faster in those spots. Use a pastry brush to keep the inside of the saucepan clean as the sugar cooks, or the sugar may recrystallize. To do this, dip a clean brush in cold water and brush the inside of the pan clean.
• Remove the cooked sugar from the heat and pour it into a medium-size heatproof glass bowl. The glass bowl will hold the temperature and stop the cooking process. It will also allow you to reheat the sugar in the microwave if necessary. If you leave he sugar in the saucepan, the sugar will continue to cook and turn dark brown. Occasionally stir the hot sugar to keep it from darkening due to the residual heat. Stirring also helps to keep its temperature even. I put a towel under the bowl to keep it from tipping and to protect my hands from the heat of the glass.
• Peel, core or pit, and halve the fruit as necessary. Use a sharp knife to slice the fruit into small pieces. (This is not necessary for berries or grapes.) Arrange the fruit on toothpicks or small skewers in any combination you like. Leave enough room at one end of the toothpick or skewer so you will be able to hold it as you dip it in the hot sugar. Dip each toothpick in the hot sugar, coating the fruits completely. Wipe the toothpick against the rim of the bowl to remove any excess sugar and place on a sheet of parchment paper. Repeat until all of the fruit has been dipped. The fruit skewers should release easily from the parchment paper as soon as they cool. You can arrange them on a plate or use your imagination to make a fruit skewer centerpiece.

PASSION FRUIT CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, and corn syrup in heavy large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush. Increase heat and boil without stirring until syrup turns medium amber color, swirling pan occasionally, about 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Whisk in butter, then passion fruit concentrate (mixture will bubble up). Simmer over medium-low heat until color deepens to rich brown and caramel thickens enough to coat spoon thickly, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Transfer sauce to bowl. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm slightly before serving.)

CARAMEL FRUIT DIP

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients together and serve.

BAKED BRIE WITH CARAMEL SAUCE AND FRUIT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar, corn syrup, and flour. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes continuously stirring. Remove from heat. Once mixture is lukewarm, add milk and stir until smooth. (It will be lumpy at first- just keep stirring.) Add pecans - I used about a handful of halved pecans broken into fairly large pieces.
• Place brie into oven until melted- only 5 minutes or so- you will know if you touch the outside and it moves with the melted cheese inside.
• Take brie from oven and onto a serving platter. Warm caramel/pecan mixture if it has cooled, and pour over the top. Serve with sliced apples. Enjoy!
• **NOTE: If you choose a slice of brie instead of a round, you should not bake the brie. It would melt all over the place. Just take out to room temperature, pour warm caramel sauce over it-- that should soften it enough to still be delicious.

CARAMEL APPLE FRUIT PIZZA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F.
• Cover 12-inch pizza pan with foil; spray with cooking spray. Place cookie dough slices in single layer on bottom of prepared pan; press together to completely cover bottom of pan. Bake 14 min.; cool completely.
• Invert cookie crust onto plate; carefully remove foil. Turn crust over on plate.
• Beat cream cheese, sugar, peanut butter and vanilla with mixer until blended; spread onto crust. Toss apples with lemon juice; spread over cream cheese mixture.
• Drizzle with ice cream topping; sprinkle with nuts.