If you're a salted caramel fan, you’ll also love this miso caramel. It has a similar salty-sweet flavor with some complex, umami notes. This recipe is dairy-free and vegan, but it'll satisfy any caramel lover's sweet tooth. It's seriously SO good!
Homemade caramel isn't nearly as intimidating as it's made out to be, there's just a lot of confusing information about the "best" way to make it. Like with anything, there's more than one method to the madness.
With a few helpful tips, this miso caramel is nearly foolproof and can be eaten right away. If eaten warm, it can be drizzled it on ice cream, waffles, baked apples with oatmeal, apple crisp, fruit galettes, or chia seed pudding. Or chill it to thicken it up and eat it straight off the spoon - my personal favorite.
Making Caramel: Wet Method vs Dry Method
When it comes to homemade caramel, there are two methods: wet and dry. For this particular recipe, we're using the wet method. But here's how the two differ.
Wet Method
The wet method is made by heating granulated sugar and water together. The addition of water helps the sugar heat more evenly and prevents the sugar from burning making it ideal for homemade caramel novices. Although it takes a bit longer to cook off the water, this approach is more hands off. You don't stir the caramel at all in the process, just brushing water on the sides to prevent the sugar from crystalizing, and then swirling the pan to even the caramelization.
Dry Method
The dry method is made by heating granulated sugar in a pot until it melts. As soon as you see the sugar crystals start to caramelize, you have to stir them around in the pot so that some don't caramelize faster than others. Although this method is quicker than the wet method, you run the risk of burning the sugar due to hot spots in the pan, which means there's very little room for error.
Ingredients
Granulated sugar - when making caramel, you have to use either white or organic cane sugar so you can see the transition of colors as it caramelizes.
Water - helps the sugar cook more evenly.
Unsweetened coconut cream - gives the caramel a thick, creamy, silky-smooth texture without any coconut taste. To easily scoop out the cream, stick a can of full-fat coconut milk in the fridge for a couple of hours. When it solidifies, the cream will rise to the top.
White miso paste - adds a salty, umami, irresistibly complex flavor and balances out the sweetness.
How to Make Miso Caramel
Add the granulated sugar and water to a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Move the pan around so that all the sugar is hydrated, then use a wet pastry brush to brush around the edges to prevent the sugar from crystallizing.
Now don't shake, swirl, or stir. It takes a few minutes for it to start boiling. When you see bubbles, brush the edges with water again to prevent crystallization. When the sugar water turns a light honey color, turn down the heat to medium-low. The caramelization is about to happen and when it does, it goes quickly.
Gently swirl the pan a few times to evenly distribute the browning. As the color turns amber, remove it from the heat.
Slowly pour in the cream while continuously whisking (be careful - it may steam and spit bubbles). Then place the saucepan back on the stove over low heat and whisk in the miso paste until smooth. Pour the caramel into a bowl or jar and let it cool before adding a lid and storing it in the fridge. It will thicken and firm up as it cools.
Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations
Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.
How can you make this miso caramel using what you already have? Here are some ideas…
- No white miso paste? – use salt in its place (a healthy teaspoon of kosher salt - reduce by half if using another type) or check out miso paste substitutes for more ideas.
- Not dairy-free? - sub heavy cream in place of the coconut cream.
- Variations - use miso butter instead of miso, add vanilla extract for more flavor, or chocolate chips at the end when you add in the miso over low heat for chocolate caramel.
Helpful Tips
To separate coconut cream from the milk, stick a can of full-fat coconut milk in the fridge for a couple of hours. When it solidifies, the cream will rise to the top.
Resist the urge to stir. Because this recipe uses the wet caramel method, stirring the sugar and water will cause the sugar to crystallize and give it a gritty texture, so no stirring during the caramelization process.
Don't let the color get too dark. If caramel is cooked too long, it'll turn very bitter and is unsalvageable.
Remove from the heat before you add the cream. If you add the cream when the heat is still on, you risk experiencing a bubbling hot caramel volcano.
Use warm cream. This will help prevent the caramel from seizing up. If it happens though, place the pan over low heat to become smooth again.
More Dessert Recipes
Miso Caramel
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut cream see notes
- 2 tablespoons white miso paste
Instructions
- Add the granulated sugar and water to a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Move the pan around so that all the sugar is hydrated, then use a wet pastry brush to brush around the edges to prevent the sugar from crystallizing.
- Now don't shake, swirl, or stir. It takes a few minutes for it to start boiling. When you see bubbles, brush the edges with water again to prevent crystallization. When the sugar water turns a light honey color, turn down the heat to medium-low. The caramelization is about to happen and when it does, it goes quickly.
- Gently swirl the pan a few times to evenly distribute the browning. As the color turns amber, remove it from the heat.
- Slowly pour in the cream while continuously whisking (be careful - it may steam and spit bubbles). Then place the saucepan back on the stove over low heat and whisk in the miso paste until smooth.
- Pour the caramel into a bowl or jar and let it cool before adding a lid and storing it in the fridge. It will thicken and firm up as it cools.
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