Salted Caramel + Poilane Bakery

The greatest mistake of my life - well it wasn't actually my mistake, but that's beside the point - was when a kitchen intern accidentally put four times the amount of salt in an ice cream base I was having her make. Rather than throw the batch out we tweaked the recipe and turned into a deep caramel colored ice cream that was sweet, and salty. I'm definitely a believer of a pinch of salt in everything pastry, but extra salt with buttery, creamy caramel is out of this world. Salted caramel is certainly not new, as the French in Brittany have been making it for ages. However, the love for the flavor of salted caramel has grown exponentially this past year. 

It's been weeks since I've been to Paris (yes, you can hate me that I can jump on a train and be in Paris in two hours) and I'm out of my favorite Parisienne CBS caramels (Caramel au Beurre Sale).*** But, Chez Pim reminded me that I can try and recreate the flavor at home. Oh, and the sables she uses as a vehicle to eat the salted caramel I don't have to make because the best part of Paris has a location in London. 

You must be wondering what the best part of Paris is? Poilane Bakery, of course. You've got to check out their whimsical website and if you are in London or Paris anytime soon, their bakeshops are a must. Poilane started baking bread in 1932, but their Paris location in Saint-Germain had been the basement bakery of a 17th century monastery. Poilane bakes bread in the same tradition of this bakery, which was producing wood-fired sourdough loaves during the time of Marie Antoinette! 

A few of my favorites, aside from the bread, at Poilane, is the apple tart, with huge chunks of apple so you know exactly what you are getting into...

And a lovely, not too sweet vanilla custard cake (in the middle)...

Almost as famous as their bread are these little, buttery cookies called punitions. Punishment in French, and you can eat an entire box before realizing what you have done. These are ridiculously expensive to have shipped, but smitten kitchen has provided a solution to this matter.

So, back to where I started - salted caramel. I used good French butter, but it wasn't salted, so I added a 1/4 tsp of salt to the recipe. Chez Pim makes chocolate ganache to keep the caramel from oozing out, though once the caramel cooled to a certain temperature it stayed put. This would be lovely over vanilla ice cream if you don't want to bother with the sables.

SALTED CARAMEL (adapted from Chez Pim)

• 120 g sugar
• 60 g unsalted butter 
• 100 ml or 1/4 c + 2 Tbs cream   
• 1/4 scraped vanilla bean 
• 1/4 tsp salt (omit if you are using salted butter)  

METHOD

Melt sugar over medium heat. Cook till sugar turns amber. Add cream (microwave or heat the cream so it is warm... this will help to avoid the major spitter spatter of hot sugar) and mix well. Add bits of butter, vanilla bean and salt. Make sure everything is well combined and set aside to cool. Spoon onto sables, or whatever shortbread you might have and sandwich.

 
*** C.B.S. or Caramel au Beurre Sale is hands down the most divine thing I have ever tasted. I even walked for hours flipping my map every which way near the seedy Moulin Rouge to procure what has been rumored to be the best salted caramel in the world. P.S. It is! 

C.B.S. caramels by Henri Le Roux can be found at A l'Etoile d'Or - Denise Acabo at 30 rue Fontaine, 75009 Paris 

Poilane in Paris: 8 rue du Cherche-Midi, 75006 or 49 boulevard de Grenelle, 75015

Poilane in London: 46 Elizabeth Street, SW1W 9PA 

Comments

[Sara]

These cookies look amazing - I've always wanted to go to Poilane, I've read so much about it.

[megan (brooklyn farmhouse)]

Yup - totally jealous. I love salty-and-sweet desserts, and this just looks amazing.

[Natasha - 5 Star Foodie]

The salted caramel recipe is excellent! I would also love some of that apple tart!

[Tangled Noodle]

A place to dream about! The apple tart is tempting beyond anything and the combined recipes for salted caramel and sables are amazing. I should hate you for being able to hop on a train and be in Paris in 2 hours but all is forgiven whenever you provide such wonderful pictures, commentary and recipes.

[OysterCulture]

OMG, they all look fantastic, the caramel and sables look to be out of this world. I may have to do a posting on Arizmende's or Tartine, or both as revenge!

[Lick My Spoon]

ooooohhhh i am dying over here with envy! paris! salted caramels! patisserie!!!! sigh. double salty sigh.

[Sophie]

These cookies look superb, yum yum,MMMMmmmm...

[Gastroanthropologist]

Sara - These bakeries that have these rich histories are so amazing. I pretend I'm eating the bread made from the same starter that Marie Antoinette ate!

brooklyn farmhouse - sweet-n-salty... the perfect marriage!

5 Star Foodie - You just made me realized that I should drizzle some salty caramel on apple tart. Doesn't that tart look great... I just love how it really is an apple tart, not a bunch of goo.

Tangled Noodle - My waistline hates me too! But these treats are quite simple and can easily be recreated!

Oyster - That would be the sweetest revenge. I'll eat sables and caramel in your honor if you have multiple pieces of arizmende pizza and tartine bread for me!

Lick My Spoon - Sleet, snow, and grey here in Europe which should ease the envy a little bit. I've been hearing wonderful things about Phillipe Patisserie rivaling Paris croissants in your neck of the woods though!

Sophie - They really are so good - crumbly, sandy, not too sweet, and a little salty.

[Esme]

These look great-I was looking at the photos-and I thought I know this bakery-it is fantastic-there is great shopping in the area-you can also make the gratin-with spinich-I will send you the recipe if you want. I envy you living in Europe. I love the SF ferry building-we were there last year for our anniversary -the day was sunny and gorgeous-and the market was alive with all sorts of vendors.

[lisa from dandysugar]

Wow. Yum. Salty and sweet is the best. Your cookies look luscious.

That bakery looks divine. I'm adding to my list of places to visit as I check out your blog!

[The Duo Dishes]

Nothing like a fabulous French bakery to warm your heart and soul! And having a way to replicate it at home isn't bad either. If only we lived in Europe. We'd be a traveling Duo that's for sure!

[Sam]

It's funny you should post this, I was planning on making salted caramel tomorrow,. Now I have a great recipe to use!

[Jennifer]

I am jealous too! But the caramel looks amazing. I think I can take a stab at that! Thanks for posting.

[Daily Spud]

I love, love, love French bakeries. I spent a summer in Paris when I was about 16 (long time ago!) and it probably spoiled me for life as far as bakeries go! I should really make it my aim to go to Paris more often, though it involves a plane and not a train, it's still a short hop from here...

[zerrin]

Hey they have a lot of kinds of bread there. And all seem wonderful.My favorite would be vanilla custard cake if I lived there.

[maria]

Extremely jealous right now ... Paris, London, that bakery, those cookies. Ugh! It all sounds (and looks) divine.

[Milena]

The breads look scrumptious. And I wish I was biting into that apple tart. What great photos. Thank you for posting.

[Jenni]

Beautiful! I just reminded folks the other day to double the salt in every baking recipe they have (within reason). I am with you on the salt in desserts thing. I put salt in everything. Absolutely everything. And now, I must go get some wipes to wipe off my keyboard. That picture of the apple tart about killed me!

[Nutrition to kitchen]

When I went to visit my cousin in Lyon we just hopped on the train to Paris too, but I so wish I would have known about Poilane - all I was doing was being busy eating brioche every chance I could get :) You salted caramel seems PERFECT for Valentine's Day.

[larkyn]

I made a version of these sandwich cookies but my caramel oozed out all over the cookie plate I ended up with a sticky mess! Should I put less caramel in the sandwich or just keep them in the refrigerator at all times? How do bakeries deal with this problem? Thanks for your help!

[gastroanthropologist]

Larkyn - This recipe usually works for me, though I do need to keep it cold and bring them out no more than half hour before serving. Try cooking your sugar a touch longer. You can also try a chocolate ganache border to keep the caramel in.

You could also try making a loose caramel candy - martha stewart has a good recipe that uses condensed milk and maybe up the salt a bit to get a more salty flavor. Don't cook it as far as the hard or firm ball stages to get a more chewy filling for your cookies.