Creative Cooks

I made this recently. It turned out quite well.


"Spicy Butterscotch Sauce"


Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter
1 1/2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Aromatic Itty Bitters
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons Kelewele Dry Spice Mix


Directions:

Cut one stick (1/2 cup) of butter into slices. In a small pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add 1 1/2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Stir to combine. It should resemble wet sand.

Bring the pot to a boil. Keeping it at a low steady boil, stir until it looks smooth rather than grainy. At first the butter and brown sugar may seem to stay separate, but they will blend together as the butterscotch cooks. This typically takes about 2-3 minutes. When you lift up a spoonful, it should pour off in a relatively smooth ribbon, and start to cling, rather than a blob of sugar falling off because the butter coats the spoon.

Take the pot off the heat so it won't spatter. Slowly pour in 1 cup of heavy cream. Put the pot back on the heat and stir gently to combine. Return to a low steady boil. Stir for another 4 minutes.

Take the pot off the heat. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon Aromatic Itty Bitters, and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. Stir to combine.

Add Kelewele Dry Spice Mix to taste, 1/4 teaspoon at a time. 2 teaspoons makes a mildly spicy sauce.

Allow to cool slightly. Transfer the sauce to a container and refrigerate. The sauce will thicken as it cools. It keeps well for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator. This recipe makes about 2 cups of spicy butterscotch sauce.

To serve, reheat in a pan over low heat, or in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Avoid boiling when reheating the sauce. Serve over ice cream, pies, or cake. It also works well as a fruit dip. You can also mix it into hot drinks or smoothies like any other syrup.


Notes:

Butterscotch relies a lot on butter for flavor, so get the best you can find and afford. I like the Kerrygold Irish butter, which is grass-fed.

You can use light or dark brown sugar, or a mix of both. I ran short on dark, so I actually used about half of each.

Vena's Fizz House offers a wide range of Itty Bitters. I used Aromatic here, which includes Alcohol, Sarsaparilla, Cardamom, Orange Peel, Cloves, Wormwood, Fennel, Sassafras, Cinnamon, Allspice, Anise Seed, Gentian Root. If you don't have this one, any "aromatic" type of bitters should work. You can also use all vanilla extract.

Sea salt has many benefits, and its trace minerals offer more complex flavor. If you don't have any, then kosher salt or table salt will work.

Kelewele Dry Spice Mix is used to flavor plantains. It is much like a pie spice blend with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and clove but adds cayenne for more kick. I got my recipe for it from Zoe's Ghana Kitchen and found it visible online, which I posted about when I first made it. If you don't have this mix, or its ingredients, you can substitute apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice, or garam masala. Add a pinch or two of cayenne if you want to make it hotter.