Vietnamese Caramelized Pork Meatball "Vermicelli" Bowls

My favorite thing to order at our local Vietnamese restaurant is bún chả, a bowl of vermicelli topped with pickled vegetables, peanuts, and grilled sliced pork or pork meatballs, served with a generous bowl of nước chấm (sweet fish sauce) on the side. This paleo version hits all the right notes without refined sugar, legumes, or actual vermicelli--the noodles are spaghetti squash instead! I'm not always a fan of swapping spaghetti squash for regular noodles, but it really works in this dish. There are so many flavors and textures intermingling that the squash flies almost completely under the radar.

The star of this bowl is the caramelized pork meatballs, which are by far the best meatballs I've ever made. Last time I attempted Vietnamese pork it was delicious, but nowhere near as good as what I've had in restaurants. I wasn't sure how to get that unique flavor--the one that's at once almost too sweet and almost too savory, but actually just perfect. Then, while doing a little online research, I came across this recipe from Saveur, which involved a very surprising step.

I never would have tried the technique advised in the recipe if it hadn't come from such a trusted source, because it sounds totally ridiculous. Luckily enough for me and you, though, I did try it, and it was just the ticket. Buckle your seat belts, folks, because we are going to MAKE CARAMEL and put it in the meatballs.

Yup.

THAT is what I mean by "caramelized".

Almond Butter Thumbprints with Salted Caramel

My mom, my boyfriend, and I are really grateful to Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories for introducing us to these amazing cookies.  I know it's a bit hard to believe because this was a pretty big batch, but we ate them all between the three of us.  I was not interested in sharing with anyone else because they were too good.

Even though they're paleo cookies made with almond butter, they taste very similar to traditional peanut butter cookies, and the crumbly, buttery cookie and creamy salted caramel are an unbeatable team.

Sparkling Sandwich Cookies (Vegan, Gluten-free, Paleo)

I subscribed to Gourmet Magazine when it was still being published, and looked forward to getting it every month.  The cover photographs were always stunning, but the December 2008 cover really stuck with me.  The theme was cookies, and eight different gorgeous recipes were featured on the cover in different parts of the country.  I got the one with these glittering lemon sandwich cookies on it, and now, five years later, I finally got around to making my own version.

These sparkling cookies are vegan, paleo, gluten-free, and perfect for New Year's Eve.  They're also the most adorable cookies I've ever laid eyes on.  The cookies are richly flavored thanks to the almond flour and lemon zest, and the sugar coating provides the perfect amount of crunch.  I was planning to make the lemon filling from Gourmet's recipe, but I got lazy, and instead pulled out jars of raspberry jam and dulce de leche.  The tiniest amount sticks the cookies together, and provides the extra bit of sweetness that makes these sandwiches irresistible.  Also, they kind of look like miniature hamburgers!  How can you say no to that?

Pumpkin Caramel Cheesecake Pie (Gluten-free, No-bake)

This pie is so easy, and so good!  If you already have your caramel sauce made (try salted caramel, salted maple caramel, or even store-bought), there is no cooking required--just a few rounds of food processing.  And, in case you need another reason to make this, there's pumpkin involved!  There's also caramel, whipped cream, and a delicious two-ingredient crust.  The cheesecake layer is rich, but not overpowering--I think even people who don't love cheesecake will probably love this.  

The recipe has several components, but they are all easy to whip up in the food processor.  You don't even really need to wash it in between layers.  Also, it's so much fun to press the crust into the pan, smooth all these amazing things on top, swirl in some caramel, and sprinkle on a few pepitas.  It's almost as much fun to make this pie as it is to eat it!

I made this for two hungry podcasters, and they both loved it.  Even though Ben at first insisted he "didn't want a piece right now", he changed his tune as soon as he laid eyes on my slice.  Basically, this pie is irresistible!

Salted Caramel Brownies (Gluten-free)

In case you missed it, you can make brownies (or blondies) from almond butter!  It's amazing--with just almond butter, honey, eggs, baking powder, and a few flavorings, you get a batter that actually bakes up into classic, fudgy, and delicious brownies.  I have Elana at Elana's Pantry to thank for that genius discovery.

And, as you may already know, every dessert gets better when you add salted caramel.  I've already made several salted caramel treats (the sauce, cupcakes, skillet brownies, and peach bars), and thought it was time for a gluten-free salted caramel brownie.  If you'd like to make this recipe paleo, you can make it with salted maple caramel instead of the regular salted caramel sauce.  Either way, these brownies will be amazing.

We had friends over for dinner last night, and used these brownies as a base for brownie sundaes (the ultimate dessert, in my opinion).  We started with the brownies, followed by a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a generous drizzle of warm salted caramel sauce, whipped cream, and a sprinkling of chocolate chips.  The sundaes were so distractingly good that no pictures were taken, so you'll just have to trust me and make some yourself!

Caramel-Stuffed Snickerdoodles (Paleo, Gluten free)

Some people go crazy for snickerdoodles, but I'm not usually one of them.  Snickerdoodles have a lot of cinnamon, which is nice, but they don't have chocolate, caramel, or fruit.  Usually I require one of those three things in order to truly fall in love with a dessert.  Several weeks ago it occurred to me that snickerdoodles could be stuffed with caramel, and ever since I've been eager to try it.  I'm not the first one to try stuffing caramel inside a snickerdoodle, but I think I'm the first to try a paleo and gluten free version.

I made this honey caramel yesterday to drizzle on top of an apple honey cake that I'm working on for Rosh Hashanah.  The cake was delicious, but it still needs a little work.  I had half of the honey caramel left (it wouldn't all fit on top of the apple cake!) so I decided I needed to make the snickerdoodles.

These are easy to make (no creaming!) and fun to eat.  Before the photo shoot, I tried two cookies, one straight from the oven and one after they'd cooled.  (As a food blogger, I have to do these things.  You know, for science.)  Then, after I took my pictures, I had to eat all the cookies that had suffered casualties (been broken open) during the shoot.  I had to drink all the milk, too, because it would have been really hard to pour it back in the carton without a funnel.  The things I do for this blog!  Anyway, it was a fabulous snack and I think you should make some today.

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Okay, this is it!  My best cupcake ever.  If you haven't jumped onto the salted caramel train yet, now is the time.  These are light and delicious vanilla cupcakes (my new favorite white cake recipe) filled with salted caramel sauce, topped with salted caramel buttercream, and sprinkled with a little more sea salt to finish.  They're amazing!  I recommend that you make them right now.  If you prefer, you can use chocolate cupcakes as the base--I tried that, too, and it's also amazing.

To make these, you'll need to some salted caramel sauce.  You might want to make a double recipe so you can stash some in the fridge or drizzle it over ice cream.  If you make a single recipe, it should be just enough to fill the cupcakes and make the frosting.

You'll also need cake flour.  I know, I also wish all-purpose flour could really be used for all purposes, but this time you're going to need the cake flour.  It makes the cupcakes really light and gives them a nice fine crumb.  If you don't have any cake flour but you do have cornstarch, use this post from Joy the Baker and turn some of your regular flour into cake flour.

I made these for an event we had at my Quaker meeting last night.  Every Wednesday in the summer, my meeting hosts a Wellesley Wednesday cookout, where everyone brings something to share and then someone presents on an interesting topic.  Well, yesterday, the interesting topic was THIS BLOG!  I had so much fun telling everyone all about A Calculated Whisk and how it all works--some of them did not even know what a blog was!

After the discussion, we made frosting together!  I showed everyone how to stuff a cupcake with salted caramel, and how to use sugar, butter, a little milk and salt, and flavorings to make a delicious small batch of buttercream.  I brought all kinds of fun things for people to flavor their frosting: grenadine, vanilla, vanilla beans, cinnamon, cocoa, almond extract, peppermint extract, salted caramel, and lime and lemon zest.  We had a blast!

Salted Caramel Cupcakes Recipe
Yield: 20 cupcakes
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients for the cupcakes (adapted from this recipe at Cookies & Cups):

1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks), at room temperature, cut into chunks
4 eggs
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup salted caramel sauce, for filling

Ingredients for the frosting:

1 cup salted caramel sauce
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 and line your muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Use a mixer to beat the mixture on low speed for about a minute to make everything light and fluffy.

With the mixer still on low, add the butter a couple of pieces at a time.  Mix until it looks like coarse sand.  Slowly pour in the milk and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing all the while and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.  Raise the mixer speed to medium and beat for about two minutes until the batter is really smooth.

Fill your cupcake liners about 2/3 full.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the cupcakes are puffed and set, but not browned, and a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove to a rack to cool.  Make sure the cupcakes are completely cool before you fill or frost them.

To fill the cupcakes, use a small paring knife to cut a small cone-shaped piece out of the top of the cupcake, making sure you don't cut too close to the bottom of the cupcake.  Spoon salted caramel in to fill the cone.

To make the frosting, mix all ingredients by hand or with a mixer until smooth.  Spread or pipe onto cooled, filled cupcakes.

If desired, drizzle some salted caramel and sprinkle a little bit of sea salt on top of the frosted cupcakes.

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You might also like:

Lemon Blackberry Cupcakes

Carrot Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Neufchatel Frosting

Margarita Cupcakes

Salted Caramel Sauce

Happy May Day!  My favorite month of the year has arrived.  To celebrate May, and my one-month blogiversary, I decided to make this delicious salted caramel sauce adapted from Two Peas and their Pod.  Now that I have two jars full of this stuff, I can make these salted caramel skillet brownies and my life will be complete.  

I used coconut milk in my version because I had some and wanted to see if it would work--it did!  You will not taste the coconut at all.  I have a theory that the sauce is slightly healthier with this modification (if you gloss over the huge amounts of sugar and butter).  I also added vanilla, which gives the sauce greater depth.

Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe

Yield: About 2 cups

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 cup coconut milk or heavy cream

1-3 teaspoons sea salt, to taste (I used Maldon)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Get all your ingredients ready so you won't have to scramble while you're making the caramel--it burns really easily!  

Heat the sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  When the sugar starts melting, whisk it until fully melted.  Then, swirl the saucepan around until the sugar turns a deep amber color or measures 350 on a candy thermometer.  My caramel was a pretty deep color by the time all the sugar melted, so I just stopped right there.  I don't have a candy thermometer and really didn't want to burn it.  Good news--it turned out great : ).

Add the butter and whisk until fully melted.  Off the heat, add the coconut milk or cream, salt, and vanilla and stir until smooth.  If your caramel is stubborn, reheat over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until it smooths out.

Let the caramel cool for about ten minutes in the pot, then pour into jars and cool to room temperature.  Stored in the refrigerator, this sauce keeps for about a month.  However, I don't think mine is going to last that long.

Any other ideas about how to use this fabulous sauce?  I'm tempted to put it in or on everything, from my morning coffee to pizza.  Someone stop me!  

You might also like:

Salted Caramel Skillet Brownies

Salted Maple Caramel Peach Bars

Homemade Vanilla Extract