We have been making this caramel spice cream for years as a last-minute Christmas dessert. The trick: soft caramel sweets instead of home-cooked caramel sauce. That saves 20 minutes of stirring and the risk of burnt sugar.
The 60°C in step 3 is the critical threshold. Any higher and the sweets start to caramelise further, turn bitter and stick to the mixing bowl. At 60°C they stay soft and creamy, dissolve into the double cream and keep their mild caramel flavour. That is why sweet-based caramel creams work.
Caramel Spice Cream with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 7 ✓
- 100 g soft caramel sweets
- 200 g butter biscuits
- 50 g butter
- 200 g double cream
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions 0 / 5
-
1
Mill the butter biscuits.
Add the butter biscuits to the mixing bowl, mill for 6 seconds / speed 7 and set aside.
-
2
Chop the caramel sweets.
Add the caramel sweets to the mixing bowl, chop for 5 seconds / speed 6.
-
3
Heat the cream.
Add the butter, double cream, cinnamon, cardamom and salt to the mixing bowl and heat for 5 minutes / 60°C / speed 1.
-
4
Mix in the biscuits.
Add the butter biscuits and mix for 10 seconds / speed 4.
-
5
Portion and serve.
Divide into dessert glasses and serve straight away or refrigerate.
Tip: The cream also works as a filling for croissants or other baked goods.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Which sweets work
We use classic soft cream caramels (the chewy kind). They have exactly the right consistency: soft enough to melt, firm enough for a stable caramel flavour. Hard caramel sweets do not dissolve fully even at 60°C and leave lumps.
Alternative: fudge caramels or toffees. But avoid filled sweets (chocolate, nougat) as they produce an unstable emulsion.
The role of butter biscuits
The 200 g of butter biscuits are not filler. They bind the liquid caramel and cream mixture into a spoonable cream and add a light vanilla note. Without the biscuits you would have a pourable caramel sauce, not a dessert cream.
Important: the biscuits are milled separately (step 1) and stirred in only after heating (step 4). If you mill them together with the sweets, they absorb the moisture and the mixture turns lumpy instead of creamy.
Getting the cinnamon and cardamom balance right
1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp cardamom is the Christmas ratio. Cinnamon leads, cardamom adds the spiced depth. With cinnamon alone the cream tastes flat and sweet. With more than 1 tsp of cardamom it turns soapy.
The pinch of salt is not decoration. It lifts the caramel flavour and prevents the cream from tasting one-dimensionally sweet. Without salt you will notice a cloying sensation after three spoonfuls.
Serving warm or cold
The cream works at both temperatures. Straight after blending it is warm and pourable, similar to caramel sauce. After 2 hours in the fridge it sets to a firm, spoonable cream like mousse.
Our standard: serve cold. The spices develop more fully in the fridge and the texture is more elegant. But if you are short of time, warm works just as well.
Storage and the croissant trick
In the fridge the cream keeps for 3 days. No longer, because the butter biscuits start to draw in moisture and the texture turns soggy. Freezing does not work as the double cream separates on thawing.
The croissant trick from the notes: halve a warmed croissant, fill the middle with 2 tbsp of cold cream and press together. The cream stays creamy and the croissant does not go soggy. This also works with puff pastry pockets.
Thermomix® as a melting guarantee
The Thermomix® holds 60°C exactly. On the hob you would have to stir constantly and check the temperature with a thermometer. In the Thermomix® you add everything, set 5 minutes / 60°C / speed 1 and the machine holds the threshold.
Goes well with: Toast, waffles and pancakes.
Speed 1 matters: any higher and the rotation beats air into the cream, making it foamy instead of creamy. At speed 1 the mixture moves gently and the sweets dissolve evenly.
Similar Thermomix® desserts: Creme Brulee, soft-serve ice cream, vanilla pudding.
