Vegan Vanilla Caramel Sauce
We took a drive out to apple and pear orchards in Hood River, Oregon yesterday. It was a beautiful, sunny autumn day and a great drive along the Columbia River.
We drove the entire Fruit Loop and came home a variety of apples, pears, cider and hard cider.
The cider is fresh from Mt. View Orchards. You can watch them press the cider and in the orchard under the trees.
The hard cider is from Fox Tail Cider (right next to Smiley's Red Barn.
They make 7 varieties of hard cider on site. You can taste one for $1.50 or all seven for $8.00. Once you pick your favorites you can buy by the glass, or take a home a 32 or 64 ounce growler. The 32 ounce is $14.00 and the 64 ounce is $20.00. They offer $2.00 off when you return to refill your growler.
They also have a lunch menu- it is small and simple but hit the spot.
So doesn't a really good apple deserve a nice caramel sauce? My friend Glenn (he owns Le Mieux Foods) makes a great Caramel de Beurre - French Salted Caramel Sauce. It has lots of butter and cream.
While I know my caramel sauce pales in comparison to his, it helps me stick to my vegan diet.
You can purchase Glenn's caramel sauce at any Made in Oregon store or online.
The recipe:
2 cups evaporated cane juice
12 tablespoons Earth Balance cube margarine
1 cup non-dairy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla (real, not imitation)- I used Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla
In a large 3-4 quart heavy bottom pan, melt sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly, until an amber to brown color. This will happen very quickly. It will go from melted to burned in a matter of seconds.
Stir in margarine until melted. The mixture will bubble up a bit.
Remove from heat and slowly whisk in non-dairy cream. It really bubble up a lot when you do this. Don't scrape the sides of the pan. This is why you need a large pan.
Stir in the vanilla.
Pour into a glass jar without scrapping the sides of the pan. Let cool to room temp (3-4 hours), then cover and refrigerate.
This is a pourable sauce. if you wish a thicker sauce, decrease the cream a bit.
Makes 3 cups. It has 55 calories per tablespoon.
