Spicy-Sweet Caramel Perfection: Ginger Caramel Slice

While I enjoy the flavor of caramel in anything and dig a good caramel sauce, I love caramel most when it's stretchy and chewy. Whenever I make bars that have a layer of caramel, I'm never sure what texture caramel I'm going to end up with. Soft set and almost runny? Creamy like fudge? Or the holy grail of candy-like chewiness? I tried Erin Clarkson's recipe for Ginger Caramel Slice and crossed my fingers.

 

These bars have an oaty base that comes together in a snap. You mix together flour, baking powder, salt, ground ginger, brown sugar, and old-fashioned oats; and add in butter that has been melted with honey. You press the mixture into the bottom of a parchment-lined pan and bake until golden. 

 

To make the ginger caramel, you cook sweetened condensed milk with brown sugar, butter, and honey until the mixture reaches 230 degrees F; add ground ginger, salt and vanilla; and pour it over the baked and cooled base. You chill the bars until they are completely cool and the caramel is set.

The recipe includes a chocolate topping (melted chocolate thinned with a little oil) that you drizzle on after slicing the bars. I cut the bars before making the drizzle and couldn't resist taking a little taste of a bar first. It was astoundingly good. The bar had a wonderful strong ginger flavor throughout, the base was chewy and substantial, and the caramel layer was absolute perfection -- solid, chewy, sweet, spicy, and immensely satisfying. I decided immediately that I would just skip the chocolate garnish because I honestly felt that that bars didn't need a thing. I love ginger and the combination of ginger and caramel here was unusual and delicious.

 

The only downside to these bars is that they need to be stored in the fridge and the caramel is a bit too stiff to eat when it's cold. I found that taking a bar out of the fridge and letting it sit at room temperature for even 20 minutes made it manageable -- but every moment I had to stare at the bar and wait to eat it was torture. I didn't even know ginger-caramel was a thing, but the caramel in this bar is the caramel of my dreams.

 

Recipe: "Ginger Caramel Slice" by Erin Clarkson of Cloudy Kitchen.