25 Shades of Caramel Star in These Sweet and Salty Desserts (2024)

Caramelized sugar makes pastries, baked goods, and plated desserts extra rich and flavorful. These decadent recipes include ways to make caramel at home with miso, wine, bourbon, and even banana. Plus, you can make your own caramel candy. Frost a cake, drizzle it over ice cream sundaes, and fill plenty of luscious pies with these craveable caramel desserts.

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Miso Caramel-Apple Danish

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Brush buttery miso-enriched caramel over wafer-thin slices of apple for the filling in this all-butter croissant pastry.

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Over-the-Top Ice Cream Sundaes with Homemade Caramel

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Fully loaded with creamy fudge, salty pretzels, crunchy toffee, and chewy, bittersweet candied lemon peel, this over-the-top sundae gets drenched in homemade caramel sauce.

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Fig and Caramel Nut Tart

25 Shades of Caramel Star in These Sweet and Salty Desserts (3)

Rich, barely bitter caramel, deeply toasted nuts, and chewy figs combine in a buttery crust for a dessert designed for pairing with Madeira.

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Salted Caramel Brownies

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Chocolatey, fudge-like brownies get the ultimate upgrade with salted caramel.

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Banana-Caramel Sauce

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This super-fast sauce comes together in just minutes and makes a next-level topping. Chunks of sweet, ripe banana get pureed into the cooked caramel, yielding a thick, rich sauce.

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Spiced Pavlovas with Oranges and Mulled Wine Caramel

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The aromas and ingredients of Bavarian Christmas markets — glühwein, toasted almonds, spiced cookies — are infused into the components of the classic Australian dessert: a base of sweet, cinnamon-spiced meringue is topped with fresh tangy quark and crowned with bright citrus and intense mulled wine caramel.

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Bunet (Chocolate Crème Caramel with Amaretti)

25 Shades of Caramel Star in These Sweet and Salty Desserts (7)

Also known as bonet, Bunet is a creamy, rich custard from Piedmont in Italy. Amaretti cookies enhance the almond flavor of the pudding while adding a lovely crunch to the silky Italian dessert.

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Peach Ice Cream with Caramel-Bourbon Swirl

25 Shades of Caramel Star in These Sweet and Salty Desserts (8)

Tart, buttery, and sweet, the caramel-bourbon swirl here balances the rich notes of the crème fraîche in this silky, swirled ice cream. Fresh, ripe peaches add a great bit of texture in every bite.

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Chocolate Puddings with Miso Caramel

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Miso-enriched caramel intensifies the deep, chocolaty flavor of these silky puddings from pastry chef Clarice Lam.

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Vegan Coconut-Ginger Caramels

25 Shades of Caramel Star in These Sweet and Salty Desserts (10)

For these ginger- and chile-spiked caramels, plant-based fat from coconut replaces the typical butter, resulting in creamy, chewy caramels that are perfect for anyone on your gift list.

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Miso Caramel Blondie Sundae

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F&W food editor Paige Grandjean gives the classic brownie sundae a makeover with a miso caramel blondie base, ribbons of hot fudge, and a nutty homemade whipped cream recipe.

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Chilled Grapefruit-Caramel Meringue Pie

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Layer pink grapefruit curd in a crunchy graham-cracker crust with caramel sauce in this cold, creamy dessert with a delicate topping of fluffy meringue.

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Burnt Caramel Flan

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Let the requisite caramel sauce in this vanilla-flecked flan go a shade darker for a faint bitter edge that cuts through the dense, sweet custard. For a distinctly Cuban touch, top the flan with a rum-spiked whipped cream.

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Frozen Crème Caramel

25 Shades of Caramel Star in These Sweet and Salty Desserts (14)

To make her crème caramel more refreshing, chef Amanda Hallowell serves it partially frozen, like a semifreddo.

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Caramel Layer Cake

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For this lavish dessert, Nashville pastry chef Lisa Donovan slathers tender yellow cake with a fudge-like dark caramel frosting.

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Salted Caramel Pie

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The filling for this super easy caramel lovers' dream pie is a simple combination of sweetened condensed milk and sea salt that's poured into a graham cracker crust and baked until thick and gooey.

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Deep-Dish Caramel Apple Pie

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This mouthwatering deep-dish caramel apple pie is drizzled with a luscious homemade caramel sauce and topped with a crunchy oat streusel.

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Salted-Caramel Squares

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Acclaimed pastry chef Zoe Nathan loves pairing salt and sugar. Her bold salted-caramel squares combine tender caramel with a dense, buttery crust.

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Salted Caramel Apple Pie

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Cinnamon and Angostura bitters keep this caramel apple pie interesting.

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Hazelnut, Nutella, and Caramel Ice Cream Sandwiches

25 Shades of Caramel Star in These Sweet and Salty Desserts (20)

Use store-boughtice creamand Nutellato re-create chef Alain Ducasse's labor-intensive candy bars, made with hazelnut glaze andcaramelpastry cream.

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Soft Apple-Cider Caramels

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These chewy treats are like caramel apples in candy form, combining the tangy-sweet flavor of cider with buttery caramel.

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Golden Caramel and Chocolate Tart

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Cookbook author Dorie Greenspan shares a luscious filling for this pastry that pairs with a nutty, caramelly Madeira for dessert.

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Salted-Caramel Cream Puffs with Warm Chocolate Sauce

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One secret to pastry chef David Lebovitz's irresistible cream puffs is the salted butter he uses to make the perfect caramel custard filling.

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Caramel Cream Pie with Crispy Rice Topping

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Puffed rice cereal is transformed into a brilliant topping while graham crackers are crushed with hazelnuts to yield a tender crust for this surprisingly luxe dessert.

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Caramel-Pear-Cheesecake Trifle

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This decadent pear-and-caramel trifle is perfect for a party because it can be made a day ahead and it serves a crowd.

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