Salted Maple Caramel {Vegan}

I am Canadian, eh? 

I love Tim Horton’s coffee, poutine (have you tried the vegan version at The Spud Shack?), and the ocean. Catherine O’Hara is my hero. I own many plaid shirts. 

I’ve been almost everywhere in this great country, and I love every inch. Except Manitoba. 😉 Kidding! I kid. 

So, when you think of Canada, what immediately springs to mind? I’m gonna say Maple Syrup. It doesn’t get much more Canadian than that. 

I’ve been to Ottawa and I’ve been to Quebec, but I just recently learned how maple syrup comes to be. 

The maple syrup farmers tap the maple trees in the spring, and collect the sap. What comes out is a clear water. They then cook this up in huge kettles until it thickens and caramelizes into the deliciousness we pour on our pancakes. 

It take 40 times the amount of maple sap or water to make 1 part of maple syrup! So for each 40 litres collected, the result is just one litre of maple syrup. 

As it turns out, some smartypants tasted the water and discovered that it tasted great. Then they did some research on it, and discovered that it actually contains 46 bioactive compounds, like amino acids, prebiotics and electrolytes. Who knew? It’s actually really good for you in its raw state. 

So if you’re the type to reach for a coconut water after a workout or yoga, you might wanna try maple water instead. I don’t actually like coconut water, but this stuff? It’s very drinkable. 

I’ve been experimenting with Pure Maple Water since a friend of mine gave me some. I’ve used it in smoothies, in cocktails (it’s great with bourbon), and I put it in my oatmeal and in my chia pudding. 

But recently, I was wondering if I could take it a step further, and decided to try to use it in a caramel. Turns out, it works pretty well. 

Oh–if you want to try some for yourself, head to The Wellness Show this weekend at the Vancouver Convention Centre. They will be there sampling. 

This is a vegan caramel, and once you’ve made it, it has a ton of uses: 

• Pour it on ice cream
• Put it in your coffee
• Pour it on cakes or brownies
• Pour it on waffles or pancakes
• Use it as a sauce for bread pudding
• Use it for flan or creme caramel
• eat it by the spoonful

Salted Maple Caramel {Vegan}

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup maple water
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4-1/2 cup non dairy milk (coconut or oat work best. Oat is more neutral)

Method: 

1. In a heavy bottomed pot, place the sugar, maple water and maple syrup. Heat over medium-high heat until all the sugar dissolves and it starts to produce large, slow bubbles. 
2. Don’t stir, just swirl the pan a little, and allow the sugar to caramelize. This will take about 5-10 minutes. If you are using a candy thermometer, you want to get the sugar to just over 300 degrees. It should be a beautiful amber/caramel colour. Remember you are going to add milk to it, so it’s okay to get it a bit darker than the actual colour you are looking for. 
3. Remove from the heat, and carefully stir in the salt and 1/4 cup of the non dairy milk. Once it’s incorporated, check to see how thick it is. If you want a runnier caramel, add a little more milk, until you get it to the consistency you like. 
4. Store in a covered mason jar in the fridge.