This super simple caramel sauce has been at the top of the list for ways I like to use candy caps. Put it on ice cream, put it on cake, put it on a shoe-it's going to taste great, and it's oh so candy-cappy

Candy Cap Mushroom Caramel — A simple caramel sauce you can put on pancakes or ice cream is a great way to use candy caps if you're new to cooking with them.

I've been playing around with candy caps a lot lately, and none of the employees at the restaurant have been complaining. The dried mushrooms are so powerful, it seems like you could really do anything with them, but like most mushrooms, the more ingredients you put with them, the less you'll taste them.

Dried candy cap mushrooms or Lactarius rubidus. — Dried candy cap mushrooms or *Lactarius rubidus*.

In this recipe, I re-hydrate candy caps, then strain the reconstituting liquid to remove any foreign particles. I buy my candy caps from the Pacific Northwest, and chances are if you're cooking with candy caps you are too, and they're likely pretty clean.

My point is that I've had success just grinding up dried candy caps without soaking and straining, then adding them to different sauces and recipes, that was there's no water to try to incorporate into a recipe in order to save some of the mushroom's flavor.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

3.94 from 15 votes

Candy Cap Mushroom Caramel Sauce

Yield: 1 cup

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Candy Cap Mushrooms, Caramel

Servings: Servings

Calories: 349kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Equipment

1 2 quart saucepan stainless steel

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
½ cup water
¼ cup heavy cream
Pinch of salt
¼ ounce dried candy cap mushrooms crumbled* see note
¼ cup Brandy
4 T butter

Instructions

If you've never made caramel or creme brulee, you should watch a video of cooking sugar to caramel. I've linked to a video in the notes.
In a stainless steel sauce pan, cook the sugar with ¼ cup of water on medium high heat until the sugar melts and turns to caramel. Turn the hood vent on, or open a window as there may be a little smoke. This is something you need to watch closely as it cooks, but don't stir it too much.
As the sugar slowly changes color from light brown to amber, turn the heat down and swirl the pan to help melt any clumps. If the mixture clumps don't worry, it will melt eventually after you add the cream.
When the caramel is amber colored, but not too dark, add the butter and melt. It will sizzle a lot. Remove the pan from the heat and add the brandy and cook for a minute to evaporate the alcohol. If you have a gas burner the pan may ignite-this is natural so don't worry.
Add the cream, mushrooms, and whisk to incorporate, The heat and reduce the sauce until thickened to your liking.
If it’s too thick, add a tablespoon of water at a time to loosen it. The sauce will keep for a couple weeks in the fridge. As it chills it will firm and solidify. To refresh it you can microwave it briefly to make it loose again.

Notes

Mushrooms

You can crumble the mushrooms for a little texture in the sauce, or grind them to a fine powder in a spice grinder to a smooth sauce.

How to serve

You can use this anywhere you'd use a simple caramel sauce. It's great over ice cream, bread pudding, or spooned over a simple chocolate cake.

Making caramel Safely

If you haven't cooked sugar into caramel before you should get familiar with the process. It cooks at a high temperature and you don't want to get it on yourself. Don't be scared though, it's easy once you get the hang of it.

Video Suggestion: How to Caramelize Sugar

Nutrition

Comments

Teresa Branda

March 25, 2023 at 9:53 pm

I am very confused with this recipe. Am I supposed to reconstitute the mushrooms or not and if so how, and when do I add them to the recipe it doesn't say anywhere when to add them?

- Alan Bergo
  
  March 26, 2023 at 1:57 pm
  
  Hi thanks for commenting. It's in there, you add them with the cream. Most commercial candy caps are very clean and don't need rehydrating. If you prefer to use them rehydrated to remove grit, you'd want to finely chop the rehydrated mushrooms, and reduce the liquid with the brandy before you add the cream.
  
  - Laura
    
    December 01, 2023 at 9:46 pm
    
    Alan, this recipe is amazing! I've tasted your regular caramel recipe as well and prefer the taste of this one, maybe it's the brandy. Could I cook it a little longer or adjust some of the ingredients to make it firm enough to wrap bite sized pieces? Thank you for any suggestions.
    
    - Alan Bergo
      
      December 02, 2023 at 5:24 pm
      
      Hi Laura. So what I would do here is add brandy to the candy cap caramel recipe, instead of trying to re-work this one. Since it's served in small portions, I would start with about a cup of brandy for the base recipe. Flame it in the pot first, after the flames die out completely, add the other ingredients and proceed cooking it to the proper temp.
      
      - Laura
        
        December 03, 2023 at 6:33 pm
        
        Thank you! I'll give that a go!
      - Alan Bergo
        
        December 05, 2023 at 3:50 pm
        
        Let me know how it turns out for you.
Alexandra

January 11, 2023 at 11:19 am

I’m very lucky to have access to fresh candy cap mushrooms. I thought drying them brings out their flavor but rather than drying and reconstituting should I just use fresh for this recipe?

- Alan Bergo
  
  January 11, 2023 at 3:55 pm
  
  If you have fresh, by all means use them. They'll get candied and chewy as they sit in the sauce.

Related Posts