I love to make things from scratch, and caramel is one of the few confections in the candy category that I have successfully made. It’s surprisingly easy, doesn’t require a candy thermometer, and only calls for four ingredients. Caramel is such a luxurious treat that can be used in a plethora of ways: drizzle it on ice cream, cakes, brownies, or fruit. It keeps in the fridge for a month and makes a wonderful gift.
Being tea obsessed, I wanted to see if I could infuse tea flavor into the caramel. To do this, I steeped earl grey into the heavy cream to make a strong infusion before making the caramel. While the heavy cream infused with tea came out quite strong, with two tablespoons of loose leaf tea to a half cup of heavy cream steeped for five minutes, the flavor just didn’t carry through to the caramel. I could taste a touch of bergamot in the final product, but barely enough to call it earl grey caramel sauce.
Make it a Latte
The caramel still came out delicious, and I settled for the next best thing—a caramel earl grey latte. This combination is an old favorite of mine from my barista days, and this caramel recipe works perfectly. It’s a little runny and makes a lovely sauce. Tea lattes are such a cozy treat and simpler to make than you may think.
I used decaf Mindful Morning for my caramel earl grey tea latte. This blend combines black Ceylon tea, cornflowers, vanilla, bergamot, and orange peels for a creamy, sweet version of traditional earl grey. If earl grey is your type of tea, we have many varieties from nutty pecan to refreshing strawberry. There’s even a lavender earl grey perfectly named Delightful Morning. There truly is a flavor for all tastes.
There are different recipes out there for making a tea latte, it all really comes down to taste. Give this version a try, then adjust it to your preference. I like to make a strong infusion with little water for the base, two teaspoons of tea to four ounces of water.
This makes the tea extra strong so you can taste it through the milk and sweetener. Steep for the time recommended on the bag, we are using more tea not more time to make a potent extract. Adding more time will only make your tea more bitter.
To make this a latte, we need milk. You can use whatever milk or milk alternative you prefer, but some may froth better than others (whole milk, oat milk, and cashew milk get really frothy!). Warm up four to eight ounces of milk, depending on your mug size and how milky you like your lattes. You can use the microwave or stovetop, but watch that it doesn’t boil as this will scald your milk.
At this point you can use a handheld frother, which you can get pretty cheap online, to froth your milk up into some nice foam. If you don’t have a frother, I’ve used cold milk shaken in a mason jar, a protein powder shaker, or a small blender, then warmed it in the microwave.
While your milk is warming, you want to sweeten your tea if you choose. For this latte, we are stirring in homemade caramel. Add as much as your heart desires. Top off your strained tea extract with your hot foamy milk and a drizzle of more caramel. Now you have a luxurious caramel earl grey latte.
How to Make Caramel
Making caramel is a fun project that doesn’t take much time or many ingredients. You do have to stick with it and watch it carefully, as it wants to boil over or burn if you aren’t attentive.
The first step is to melt the sugar in a high-sided pan until it turns into a brown liquid. You have to stir the whole time the sugar is on the heat. It will get clumpy first, but if you keep stirring and heating it, the sugar will turn into a liquid. Once you have your liquid, add in the butter. The mixture will foam up, just keep stirring. If it gets clumpy or separates, remove it from the heat and keep stirring. It will come back together.
After the butter has melted, slowly and carefully pour in the heavy cream while you stir. The mixture will foam and rise up, so be careful. You can wear kitchen gloves if you’re worried about splatter. Once the cream is added, let the mixture sit on the heat for one minute and then remove. Stir in salt if using unsalted butter.
Let the mixture cool some before pouring it into a mason jar. Once fully cooled, store in the fridge for up to one month. The caramel is a sauce consistency but will thicken as it cools. You may need to pop it in the microwave to warm it back up before using it.
Caramel Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
Pinch of salt if using unsalted butter
Directions:
On medium heat, add sugar to a high-sided pan and begin to stir.
Continue stirring sugar until it becomes a brown liquid.
Add butter. This will cause the sugar to foam and rise up so be careful.
Continue stirring until butter is melted.
Once butter is melted, slowly stir in heavy cream. The mixture will foam and rise once again.
Once the heavy cream has stirred in, stop stirring and let caramel sit on the heat for one minute. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t boil over. If the mixture foams too high, remove from heat.
After a minute, remove caramel from heat.
Stir in salt if needed.
Let cool some before transferring into a mason jar.
Caramel will thicken as it cools.
Once cool, caramel can be refrigerated for up to one month.