Fall meets Winter, Thanksgiving meets Christmas, with this Gingerbread Caramel. Use it as-is to make caramel apples, or caramel candy, or thin it out with a little extra cream to make a Gingerbread Caramel sauce for pancakes, ice cream or whatever you love most!
Tis the season to make caramel apples, but I guess it’s always the season for that, since apples are always available. There’s something about this chilly Fall weather and all the extra Holidays that not only requires us to do some extra baking and cooking, but makes us WANT to.
Everyone loves caramel, that buttery ooey-gooey amazing addition to almost anything sweet. It takes things to a whole new level. Chocolate, nuts, fruit, cookies, brownies…whatever your sweet tooth desires.
But, I thought, what if I change the flavor a bit? With Christmas right around the corner, gingerbread seemed like an obvious choice. So, I pulled out my gingerbread recipe, and pulled the ingredients that make gingerbread, well, gingerbread, and mixed them right in.
I have to say, it’s a natural fit.
I may just have to play around with a lot of different flavors. When I do, I will be sure to let you know!
With this recipe, I dipped 6 apples, then I thinned down the caramel with some heavy cream and used the rest of it as a caramel sauce for these pancakes, then stored the rest in the refrigerator to use another time, for….who knows what that will be, but it will be good!
| Servings | Prep Time |
| many | 5 mins |
| Cook Time |
| 20 mins |
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Fall meets Winter, Thanksgiving meets Christmas, with this Gingerbread Caramel. Use it as-is to make caramel apples, or caramel candy, or thin it out with a little extra cream to make a Gingerbread Caramel sauce for pancakes, ice cream or whatever you love most!
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- 1 C heavy cream
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 C granulated sugar
- 1/4 C light corn syrup
- 1/4 C water
- 1/2 C dark molasses
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- In a medium sized bowl, add the heavy cream, butter, and salt. Microwave in 30 second increments until melted. Add molasses, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Mix well and set aside.
- In a large saucepan (at least 4 quart), add the sugar, corn syrup and water. Turn heat to high, and cook without stirring until reaches about 285 degrees.
- Turn the heat off.
- Slowly pour the molasses-cream mixture in, whisk gently until incorporated.
- Turn the heat back on and cook without stirring until it reaches 250 degrees.
- Turn the heat off and stir.
- If you're making caramels, immediately pour into a 9x9 casserole dish lined with parchment paper and sprayed with cooking spray. Allow to cool. Cut to desired size.
- If you're going to dip apples, allow the caramel to cool about 10-15 minutes, then dip your apples and place on parchment paper to cool.
- To turn your caramel into sauce, add heavy cream 1/4 cup at a time until it reaches your desired consistency. It continues to get thicker as it cools. You may have to add cream several times.
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