The Perfect Dessert

Miso Caramel Sauce

Recipe, For A Sweet And Salty Umami Fix

This miso caramel sauce recipe takes the classic salted caramel and gives it an umami quality by whisking in white miso paste towards the end of the sauce-making process. This is done when the sugar syrup has already turned amber, and the cream has been folded into the sauce. You get a glossy, pourable sauce that carries the sweetness of caramel but has a savoury, faintly fruity tang from the fermented miso, which keeps the whole thing from tasting one-note the way plain caramel sometimes can. What is crucial in making the caramel sauce recipe is how you make the sugar syrup. The sugar and water are simmered without stirring once the sugar dissolves. Stirring at this stage can cause the syrup to crystallise and hinder the formation of caramel and its development to an amber shade. It takes five to ten minutes on medium-high heat. Room-temperature cream is added once the syrup is removed from the heat to avoid effervescence, then whisked into the sauce. The miso paste in this caramel sauce recipe goes in last, once the caramel is returned to the stove on low heat, and it needs only a couple of minutes to fully incorporate into the sauce. White miso is the better choice for this Japanese-inspired sauce since its milder, slightly sweet fermentation gives a more subtle umami note than red miso, which can be quite overpowering. A small pinch of flaked sea salt at the end helps in fine-tuning the balance between sweet and salty to taste.