This Salted Caramel Milk is a dessert beverage, but it’s not overly sweet, due to the darkly caramelized sugar and pinch of salt. It’s not as heavy as hot chocolate recipes but still feels like an indulgent treat!
Here’s something about me that probably won’t come as a surprise: I love throwing parties. (If you’re a regular reader, the post about my Very Hungry Caterpillar party this past spring might have tipped you off.) Actually, I love-slash-hate throwing parties, because I inevitably get obsessive and way too intense about it, and it’s not unusual to find myself hot-gluing napkin rings together at 3 in the morning, whispering “Must be perfect…must be perfect…” under my breath. But my weird issues aside, I love having friends come over, making food for everyone, and getting to play hostess.
I wanted a chance to throw a party with a few of my best friends and pamper them with some of my favorite things. (I was especially excited to introduce them to Salted Caramel Milk but we’ll get to that later.) I tried to bring in a range of different flavors and textures to make each of the 5 dishes unique. Best night ever, or what?!
Now let’s talk details!
I started with hazelnut gelato, warm fudge sauce, and candied hazelnuts on top. The gelato and fudge sauce were purchased—those of us who stay up late gluing napkin rings together occasionally need to catch a break! Still, the combination of hazelnuts, chocolate, and vanilla mousse was awesome.
Then for our second course we had raspberry tartelettes, filled with a lemon cream cheese-whipped cream filling, and topped with a bit of edible gold leaf. (I can’t help it. I have to gild all the things. It’s a sickness!) These were little 2-bite wonders and were verrrry popular.
By now you must be wondering if my friends were getting full–never I say, never! Our 3rd dish was crème fraiche panna cotta with balsamic glaze, fresh strawberries, and basil. This was another knockout. It basically convinced me that I should always serve panna cotta at parties, because it is so easy but everyone goes crazy for it.
Dessert number 4 was one of my favorites from this past year: pistachio cake. It’s fast and gluten-free, with a super strong pistachio flavor. It was topped with a cream cheese-whipped cream topping, and a berry compote.
Dear reader, you didn’t think we were finished yet, did you? The party continued with our only savory dish of the night: brioche toasts with goat cheese, chopped rosemary, toasted walnuts, and a drizzle of honey. It sounds simple (and it is!) but these little apps were fantastic. It was so nice to have a savory break.
As the closing dessert for the evening I settled on a Salted Caramel Milk drink—warm milk, flavored with homemade caramel. It’s a dessert beverage but it’s not too sweet, due to the darkly caramelized sugar and pinch of salt. Since it uses milk, without cream or chocolate, it’s not as intense as some hot chocolate recipes, but it still feels like an indulgent treat. It was the perfect way to end our night, and a great accompaniment to the café au lait truffle! You need this milk in your life—and you can find the recipe below!
The aftermath—yes, a good time was had by all
💜 More Caramel Desserts
Creme Brulee White Hot Chocolate
Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
Salted Caramel Milk
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp lemon juice
- 4 cups milk, room temperature, I used 1%—any fat percentage you enjoy drinking will work
- Big pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, rub together the sugar and the lemon juice, until the sugar is damp and fragrant.
- Place a medium saucepan over medium heat and let it preheat for several minutes until the pan is hot. Once the saucepan is hot, add the sugar. Begin stirring immediately and continuously. Because the pan was preheated, the sugar will start cooking very quickly. Soon after it liquefies it will start to take on color. Cook, stirring constantly, until it is a medium amber color.
- Continue to stir while you stream in the milk. The caramel may seize and form small chunks of sugar, but continue to stir and heat the mixture, and by the time the milk is piping hot, the caramel will have melted and you will have a smooth liquid. Add a pinch of salt, taste the milk, and add more salt if desired.
- Serve Salted Caramel Milk with whipped cream, marshmallows, a drizzle of caramel sauce, or even a scoop of ice cream! Salted Caramel Milk can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Measuring Tips
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Want to learn more about baking measurements and conversion?
A) I totally understand the love/hate relationship with throwing a party. I absolutely love to do it but I’m super type A and everything.must.be.perfection. B) I think having a chocolate tasting party is the best party ever. I think I’m going to have to get my hands on these truffle flights and taste them all!! And C) I’m totally stealing your goat cheese brioche toasts and this salted caramel milk. I love the caramel idea instead of traditional hot chocolate!!
Are we separated at birth, or what?! Party planning is so fun & so stressful at the same time. Also, I think Pinterest has made things a million times worse, because now there’s all this “inspiration” (aka virtual competition) from, like, the entire internet. It’s ridiculous! And please, yes, steal everything! (Maybe not literally…) The goat cheese toasts would also be an awesome quick lunch.
This sounds like an exciting night! You must have had so much fun! And those truffles… I’m drooling, Gosh. I really need to attend to a chocolate-tasting party now ๐
Thanks Consuelo! It was awesome–and such a great excuse to get together with friends! Sometimes it takes a little nudge to make a girl’s night happen, right? Consider this your nudge to have your own chocolate party. ๐
What a fun night, especially spending it with chocolate and friends!
Thanks Liz! I’m pretty sure there’s no better combination than chocolate + friends!
Oh my, this looks like it was too much fun. I love the idea of a chocolate tasting flight, too–way to be genius, Godiva! I’m most curious about the peach mousse–definitely hunting these down…
And I must try your pistachio cake sometime! So many wonderful things in this post.
Thanks D! The pistachio cake doesn’t look like much, but it’s probably one of my favorite dishes from this past year! And you can use other nuts too–almond for sure, and I’m guessing hazelnut would also be amazing.
Hi Elizabeth,
This recipie seems to be great!And you are looking really cute.You are in the extreme left right?Amazing!
Regards,
Syeda Fatima,Pakistan
Haha, yes, that’s me. Good eye. ๐ Thanks Syeda!
hey… can we serve this salted caramel milk cold??