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Nikka Whisky and Tonka Bean Smoked Salted Caramel Recipe

I wanted to jazz up my usual salted caramel recipe for pancake day and thought there’s no better way than to add some whisky from my favourite Japanese whisky distillery.

My brother bought me a new bottle of Nikka from the barrel so I decided to use up what was left in my other bottle, along with some added tonka beans I had lying around in the cupboard.

Nikka Whisky and Tonka Bean Smoked Salted Caramel Ingredients

  • 50ml Nikka From the Barrel Whisky
  • 100ml tonka bean infused double cream
  • 200g granulated sugar
  • 100ml of water
  • 100g unsalted butter (I used salted as that’s all I had in the fridge but I’d use unsalted and add the amount of smoked salt you need to taste)
  • Pinch of smoked salt. I used Maldron or you could use Halen Mon.

 

Nikka Whisky and tonka bean smoked salted caramel recipe

 

Instructions

  1. To make the tonka bean infused cream, take two tonka beans, snap them and drop into the cream.
  2. Cover the cream and let to infuse overnight. I found snapping them rather than grating the tonka bean, made it easier to remove the tonka bean after infusion.
  3. Add the sugar to a saucepan with a splash of water.
  4. Warm the cream up gently so that it doesn’t fizz violently when added to the caramelised sugar.
  5. Heat the sugar up until it starts to smell like caramel and starts to turn golden in colour.
  6. Take the sugar off the heat when it gets to the desired caramelisation but don’t let it go too dark as it will burn and taste bitter. It will carry on cooking after you take it off too so act quickly.
  7. Add the warmed cream to the sugar and the butter then whisk to combine. Be careful as it does splutter when you add the liquids to the sugar.
  8. When the butter and cream are added, pour the whisky in. If you put the whisky in too early it will just burn off.
  9. Add as much smoked salt to the caramel as you prefer and mix to combine.
  10. Pour the caramel into a container that allows you to spoon out easily.
  11. Use straight away once it’s cooled a little or put in the fridge.

You can add the caramel to pancakes like it did, drizzle over ice cream, add to your breakfast oats, top with toasted crumpets with nutella, use for millionaire bars, pour over waffles or just take a spoon and enjoy.

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Best pancake with salted caramel recipe

Every year on pancake day I come home and my mum’s causes the biggest crime to cooking known to man…buying a pre-mix box for making pancakes! I’m sick in my mouth a little at the thought of putting one of those grotesque plasticy pieces of shit in my mouth!

So then every year I trawl the interweb looking for a recipe for PROPER PANCAKES! I forget the coming year and do it all again so i thought after my extra special batch of batter I made this year after a bit of tweaking over the years i’d immortalise it on my blog so I can refer back to it in future years and maybe add to it from there.

Anyway all good pancakes instead of using a bag of pre-made crap from the local Spar with a list of ingredients longer than Ron Jeremy’s shlong only require 4 ingredients so how it can be that hard in the first place, I do question how people who resort to fake pancake mixes have survived this far in life!

Pancake Recipe

2 free range eggs

100g plain flour

300ml milk (i’ve gone for Sainsbury’s Jersey Cows Gold top milk for extra creaminess)

a small pinch of salt

Then you will need butter for greasing the pan between pancakes again i’ve gone for Sainsbury’s Jersey Cow’s taste the difference salted butter because who want’s fake flora or whatever other crappy vegetable based butter your grandmother has festering away in the fridge.

Instructions

Pour the flour into a bowl, crack over the two eggs and beat with a whist to incorporate all the egg into the flour so it’s wet. The idea is to add small dashes of the milk whilst whisking so that you’re not left with big lumps of flour in the bowl.

Once all the milk has been added and you have a light batter after whisking all the ingredients together add a knob of butter to the hot pan I used setting 3-4 on a hob with 6 being max with a cast iron pan.

You don’t want the butter to burn so as soon as it melts add a ladle of the pancake mix to the pan leaving it for a minute before you even think of touching and mutilating the wet pancake mix with a spatula as my mum seems to love doing every time she attempts to make them so she’s banned from going near them from now. Once the pancake starts to firm up on the first side and there doesn’t seem to be any wetness on top start to go around the edges of it with the spatula to stop it sticking and then scrape underneath it for the final test in the pancake cook…the Pancake Toss!!

Anyway flip it over and leave it settle for about another minute making sure not to burn because if the kids you’ve got queuing up with wild eyes and plates stuck out fighting for the first one are as fussy as in my nan’s house on pancake day they will toss it back at you if it’s cremated!

I sometimes give the first side another couple of seconds to make sure it’s warmed through and the pancake is at the ultimate melting temperature for what sugar laden topping you’ve got lined up for it. My usual suspect being salted caramel and or chocolate. I did however couple the freshly made salted caramel with Sainsbury’s madagascan vanilla cream, which went down a treat with each other and tasted quite similar to melted vanilla ice cream.

I made another batch of salted caramel this year but ditched the sailor jerry’s spiced rum as I didn’t want the kids going to bed with a hangover as it’s not half term until next week ha ha

Salted Caramel Recipe

200g granulated sugar

100ml double cream

100g butter (I used Sainsbury’s Jersey Cows salted butter for extra creaminess)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

100ml water

1 teaspoon of your favourite sea salt flakes (Do not use table salt as this will be too fine)

(Optional) 1 shot of spiced rum

Instructions

In a bowl add the granulated sugar and water and put on high heat to bring up to boil. Leave boiling away for several minutes. I used a sugar thermometer but couldn’t find how hot i needed it to go so it got up to 170C and just after it started to darken slightly.

This is were you need to be extra vigilant as there’s a very small window between it caramelising to the right colour and burning. You will notice it’s turning to a caramel too as it starts to smell more as it’s browning. You want a light caramelisation and as soon as it does start going from faint brown to a darker colour take it off the heat as it will continue to cook. Drop the butter in and start mixing it into the molten sugar but watch as it will start to bubble due to it being lower temperature.

Once the butter is mixed in with no lumps add the vanilla then the cream and whisk again but be careful it doesn’t start to spit again. At this point if you want to add a shot of spiced rum you can do it here to get the full flavour as adding it to the sugar syrup kills off most of the alcohol. Stir until it’s combined  fully and pour into a jar or whatever you’re using to store or pour it from onto your pancakes or whatever recipe you have lined up for it.

If it goes hard when it’s cooled or put in the fridge for a later date then just warm it up in 10 second blasts in the microwave until it’s to the right consistency.

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Science Cream discount voucher for ice-cream and hot chocolate in Cardiff

I would say Science Cream is one of Cardiff’s greatest secret’s as most of my friend’s i’ve mentioned them to haven’t heard or seen the crazy scientist at work in the frosted cloudy kitchen concocting oodles of velvety smooth ice cream to sooth your throat like a whole packet of tunes on the head. If you want to try the freshest ice cream know to man then it’s impossible to get it fresher anywhere else as it’s made fresh to order… in front of your eyes within 60 seconds!!

How do they do this?? Liquid nitrogen of course! The cream and flavour pairings are placed into a kitchen aid, powered up then doused in liquid nitrogen that sets the liquid to ice in a matter of seconds but as the process of freezing is super quick then the ice particles are minute meaning it’s probably the creamiest ice cream i’ve ever shovelled into my greedy mouth.

I’ve tried Science Cream a couple of times with their residency at a few of the Depot events in Cardiff last year but i’ve been wanting to take my younger sister to sample the expertly crafted icy flavour bombs they have churning away in the kitchen aid’s plus i want to try the ultimate homemade chocolate on the menu at the ice cream parlour as they haven’t unleashed that to the pop up food fest fans just yet.

science-cream-salted-caramel-ice-cream

My first batch of Science Cream ice cream was the salted caramel topped with nuggets of salted peanut brittle drowned in rivers of salted caramel sauce…mmmm I can still remember my eyes lighting up when I exchanged my shrapnel for my tub!

If you’re not into your food festival pop up’s or just looking for somewhere to take the kids in half term that is sure to keep them quiet for 10 minutes then Science Cream are offering customers a liquid nitrogen fuelled ice cream tub with a sauce of their choice then to get the internal temperature of your mouths and throat back up to room temperature a cup of their famous hot chocolate for just £4 with Livingsocial.

Don’t fancy going alone? They are also offering 2 customers the same for £8 or 4 customers for £16 dinning at the same time.

Based in 28 Castle Arcade, Cardiff, CF10 1BW that’s just opposite the arcade by you’ve guessed it Cardiff Castle and just off St Mary Street so you can’t get much more central in town.

Use the Science Cream discount voucher against ice cream and hot chocolate over half term with the kids or if not then it can be used up till 30th April 2016 and valid Wednesday – Saturday 12-6pm or Sunday 12-5pm.

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