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I was deep in the throes of an I-need-it-want-it-now-junk-food craving. You know what I’m talking about. I deliberately do not keep that stuff in the house after the Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter fiasco of 2014. I managed to eat three containers in one week. I’m not proud, but, damn, it was good!
To the internet, I turned. I checked out all kinds of chocolately goodness. Then I stumbled upon caramel sauce, like this one. I found myself thinking of all kinds of ways I could use this amazing looking concoction. Then it morphed into these salted caramel chocolate cups. And oh, my stars are they yumtastic!!
These seriously rich salted caramel chocolate candy cups are unbelievably yumtastic. I couldn’t eat more than two. That’s how rich they are, which, in my opinion, is a very good thing. We don’t need a repeat of the chocolate hazelnut butter fiasco from last summer.
Makes 18 cups
Ingredients
1 can coconut cream, placed in the fridge for several hours to allow the cream to rise to the top of the can
¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup coconut cream (from the can that has been in the fridge)
¼ teaspoon Real Salt
1 vanilla bean pod
½ cup maple syrup, plus 1 tablespoon
1 10 ounce package of Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon coconut oil
For the caramel sauce:
Melt the ¼ cup of coconut oil in a pan. Add the coconut cream and the salt. Using a sharp knife, split the vanilla bean pod down the length of the pod. Scrape some of the vanilla bean seeds out of the pod with the tip of the knife. Place them in the pan along with the pod. Simmer for 5 to10 minutes allowing the vanilla pod to steep in the coconut cream. Remove the pod.
Add the maple syrup. Bring the pan to a rolling boil. Then quickly turn the heat down to medium. You want the heat low enough to prevent the pot from boiling over but hot enough to keep the mixture at a good bubble. Whisk until the mixture turns a caramel color and thickens, about 10-20 minutes.
Set aside to cool slightly.
For the chocolate cups:
Place a glass bowl over a pan of gently boiling water. Add the chocolate chips and coconut oil and stir with a whisk until melted.
Assemble the cups:
Line a mini-brownie pan with 18 mini-parchment paper cups. My pan makes 24, but I was only able to get 18 cups out of the batch.
Using a couple of spoons, spoon the melted chocolate into the cups. With the back of the spoon, move some of the chocolate up along the sides to coat the sides of the cups. I used two long handled teaspoons, like the kind you get at the restaurant for tall glasses of tea. Set the spoons aside into a shallow bowl or something handy as you’ll need them again later.
Place the brownie pan in the freezer to allow the cups to set up, about 20-30 minutes.
When the cups are set, warm up the caramel slightly to get it thin enough to spoon into the cups.
Again, using clean teaspoons, spoon the caramel into the cups. Place the brownie pan into the freezer again. Check it after 15 minutes. Once the caramel has firmed up, you can spoon the rest of the melted chocolate over the top.
Warm the rest of the melted chocolate over the water bath if needed to loosen it up. Using the chocolate spoons you used before – no need to make more dishes, spoon the rest of the melted chocolate over top of the caramel. Again, place the brownie pan in the freezer to set up the candies.
Allow them to set up for about 20-30 minutes.
Store in the fridge.
