The hard-to-reach sticky remnant clinging in your golden syrup tin can be put to excellent use. Instead, repurpose it into an indulgent toffee sauce wonderful with autumn evenings, particularly when drizzled over warm spiced apples accompanied by creamy ice cream.
Toffee Sauce and Warm Apples
Apples experience a beautiful change when baked, converting this autumn produce into a super-simple yet decadent final course. I prefer firm dessert apples (meaning medium-sized fruits), allowing for individual apple servings.
Time-honored approaches which produce dependable finishes serve as inspiration for this adjusted recipe. For this purpose, I've modified a standard dessert sauce to make use of the final remnants from a golden syrup tin, lowered the proportion of granulated sugar, and added sea salt and vanilla if desired to enhance the quintessential taste of traditional butterscotch. (The invert sugars in golden syrup are essential for producing a perfectly creamy toffee sauce, as regular sugar can crystallize again, creating a sandy texture.) If you don't have the traditional syrup, corn syrup or bee honey perform admirably.
This versatile sauce works with numerous sweet treats, from traditional banana desserts to these baked apples served with cream. The heated preparation dissolves beautifully over the warm apples, establishing a delightful contrast of flavours, mouthfeels and heat levels. Keep any excess sauce in an airtight jar in the fridge for approximately a fortnight, or for several months in frozen storage.
Serves 6-8 people
For the Caramel Sauce
- 2-3 tbsp liquid sweetener (I used the dregs of a tin), or corn syrup or natural honey
- 180g sugar (granulated or soft)
- ½ tsp sea salt (coarse salt)
- 150ml double cream (heavy cream)
- 50g unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (if desired)
To prepare the Baked Apples
- 6 medium dessert apples (eating apples)
- 60g sultanas or raisins (currants)
- 30g sugar
- 30g butter
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Cream or ice-cream, as accompaniment
Method
To extract the final remnants from your syrup container, introduce about recently boiled water and, securing the can in protective material to protect your hand, swirl it around and clean the interior with a utensil until clean. Tip this sweet liquid into a big cooking vessel. (Should you not be emptying a tin, just portion two or three spoonfuls of the sweetener into a pan and add 100ml hot water instead.) Sprinkle in the granulated substance and salt, place the saucepan on moderate temperature and rotate (as opposed to stirring) the pan occasionally, until the sweet and salty components dissolve.
Let the preparation to boil softly without disturbing it, then, when you notice the caramel forming of the container start to darken, rotate once more so the preparation browns uniformly. When it reaches amber color, remove the vessel from the temperature source and carefully pour in the heavy cream (the mixture will expand, so step away), then mix to create a creamy preparation. Add the butter and vanilla extract, when adding, and mix once more until glossy. Present immediately or place in serving vessel and allow to reach room temperature.
Heat the oven to moderate oven temperature, and core the apples from the apples. In a bowl, combine the raisins, granulated substance, spread and spice, then press this mixture into the hollow of each apple. Sit each apple in compartmentalized baking pan, to collect escaping liquids, then bake for about half an hour, until soft when tested with a testing tool. Present while hot crowned with your homemade sauce and possibly some ice-cream.
