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[Caramel au beurre salé and milk chocolate mousse]


On caramel au beurre salé
Caramel au beurre salé [salted butted caramel] might sound strange but it is a classic combination. The beurre salé [salted butter] enhance the caramel flavour, resulting in a delicious treat.
Caramel au beurre salé comes from the north-west of france, from somewhere between Bretagne and Normandie. In these places, it's a common statment to produce milk and thus cream and butter. And because of the proximity of the ocean/sea, salt is also produced for our greatest pleasure, leading to the confection of the famous caramels.

On chocolate and caramel
The association of caramel and chocolate is also un classique these days; from Pierre Hermé's macarons Plénitude to Michael Recchiuti's Burnt Caramel ganache.
This pair is also a favourite of mine.
It seems the caramel boosts the chocolate aroma. And to tell the truth it's nothing but science.
Chocolate = fermented + roasted + ground cocoa beans = Maillard reaction
Caramel = caramelised sugar = caramelisation

Maillard reaction and caramelisation are both non-enzymatic browning.
Non-enzymatic browning is responsible for colours (brown tones) and flavours (subtly burnt).
As a result, chocolate and caramel are made to go together, highlighting each others.

On chocolate, caramel AND salt
Salt is an effective taste-enhancer and adding salt to a confection enable to develop its flavours. Nothing less, nothing more!

Mousse au chocolat au lait et au caramel au beurre salé
This mousse is a delight. Chocolaty, caramely!
I love the way the chocolate and the caramel complement each others to form a perfect after-dinner pudding.
I like serving this mousse (and any other chocolate mousse) in espresso cups.
Let me think... Everything's been said! Enjoy.

Just a short note - The NY times recipe says 'deglaze with the cream and butter', while the butter should be added first until melted, then the boiling hot cream should be poured over. If you follow these two steps, seizing should not occur.

Labels: chocolate, recipe inside, spoon desserts

 Unknown said something sweet:

J'adore autant le chocolat que le caramel au beurre salé, cette mousse est un piège pour moi! Magnifique photo.

12 July, 2006 11:57 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

It looks totally amazing!

12 July, 2006 12:34 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

J'aime beaucoup le chocolat et le caramel au beurre salé, je craque totalement pour ta mousse !

12 July, 2006 13:24 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

Hi Fanny!
This looks delicious! I've never tried the combination of chocolat et caramel au beurre salé - and it's obvious that I'm missing out on something great! Thanks for the explanations as well, I learn more and more each day! :)

12 July, 2006 13:40 

 Alhya said something sweet:

C'est pas "somewhere between" la Bretagne et la Normandie le caramel au beurre salé, c'est EN bretagne ;-)!! non, je sais pas, mais moi, je n'en mange que là bas, et tout cas, et ils sont à tomber... bref, cette recette de mousse qui mêle deux ingrédients que j'adore, je la note illico. Juste une question, le double cream, je peux la remplacer par quoi, si je n'en trouve pas en France?

12 July, 2006 13:41 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

Fanny,
I've been meaning to tell you; I've really noticed a difference in your photos lately. They were always good; but they are on a higher level now, really outstanding and extra vibrant! I love the colors that you involve. Good work!...vici

12 July, 2006 15:55 

 Camille Clech said something sweet:

Magnifique, comme toujours... et cette association de chocolat et de caramel au beurre salé : démoniaque !!!

12 July, 2006 16:33 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

It sounds delicious. I can't think of a better combination!

12 July, 2006 17:23 

 Sam said something sweet:

woah!
I am going to make this sans chocolate. (There is a recipe in the Michael Reucheutti chocolate obsession book along these lines which I tried and I decided I wanted to do it again without the chocolate element). Adding salt to the mix to me sounds like a brilliant idea. When I grew up in britian we only cooked all our desserts with salted butter anyway, because that's all we knew!

beautiful!

do you think i could make a big one? I need to make some desserts for a party?

12 July, 2006 18:11 

 *fanny* said something sweet:

Hi there, thank you so much for all the nice words. I feel like being spoilt right now :)

Alhya - c'est vrai que les seules fois pendant lesquelles j'ai mangé des caramels au beurre salé c'était en Bretagne, mais en faisant quelques recherches j'ai découvert qu'il y en avait également en Normandie. Le débat reste ouvert.
Sinon pour la double cream, c'est tout simplement une crème à 40% que l'on remplace par de la crème fleurette.

Sam - i'm sure a big one would be fantastic, but it would be too hard for me to resist dipping my (big) spoon in it.

xoxo
Fanny

12 July, 2006 18:20 

 Sam said something sweet:

the secret is to make a special chef's portion on the side ;)

12 July, 2006 22:46 

 dorothee said something sweet:

Hi! I just stumbled across your blog, and I love the design! What do you do so that your pictures have rounded edges?

13 July, 2006 10:58 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

After seeing your Henry cake I thought it couldn't get any better, but this post blew me away. I can't wait to start using more of your recipes. So far everything I have tried has gotten rave reviews. Thanks for sharing!!

13 July, 2006 20:52 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

So many nice Fanny recipes to try, so little time! But this weekend I am going to make the mousse au chocolate! It can't be anything else than perfection!

Marieke

14 July, 2006 11:54 

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