Pumpkin Caramel Sauce

I first saw Cheese1227's recipe last year on Food52: Salted Pumpkin Caramels. Doesn’t it just glow with the possibilities of autumn? Every year, my parents-in-law throw a huge Halloween party and this year I’m going to bring these caramels. The only problem is the cream. I can’t eat it and neither will the vegans.

Coconut milk to the rescue! At least, that’s what I was thinking a few days ago.

I made this recipe, substituting a heavy-fat coconut milk for the cream, then proceeded to cook it without a candy thermometer. I have the most spectacular pumpkin caramel sauce, but not firmly set caramels.

May I recommend that when a recipe asks you to use a candy thermometer, you follow their instructions? The author usually knows what they’re talking about.

I have since acquired a candy thermometer and I’ll be trying this again. In the meantime, that spectacular pumpkin caramel sauce is excellent on Coconut Bliss Vanilla island ice cream. It also makes a delicious dip for apples, fresh from the tree, in the center of a circle of friends playing board games.

That’s what autumn’s all about anyway: circling up with friends for toasty snacks and games.