Confectioners: Help me use up my cream

[tammylc]

I miscalculated and overbought this weekend, so now I have a pint of organic cream that's going to go bad real soon if I don't do something with it. I'm going to look through my confection books and see if there's something I've been meaning to try, but in the meantime, I thought I'd ask here.

Anyone have an interesting caramel recipe, or some other kind of interesting confection that uses cream? I have some bar molds poured and could put something in them. I'm not particularly interested in ganache today - looking to try/learn something new.

Thanks!

[CaliPoutine]

I made a fabulous hot fudge that keeps for awhile in the fridge. It uses 2/3c. of cream. I know its not a candy per se, but it would make a great gift!!

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring cream, corn syrup, sugar, cocoa, salt, and half of chocolate to a boil in a 1 to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until chocolate is melted. Reduce heat and cook at a low boil, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, then remove from heat. Add butter, vanilla, and remaining chocolate and stir until smooth. Cool sauce to warm before serving.

[tammylc]

I made a fabulous hot fudge that keeps for awhile in the fridge.  It uses 2/3c. of cream.  I know its not a candy per se, but it would make a great gift!!

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring cream, corn syrup, sugar, cocoa, salt, and half of chocolate to a boil in a 1 to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until chocolate is melted. Reduce heat and cook at a low boil, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, then remove from heat. Add butter, vanilla, and remaining chocolate and stir until smooth. Cool sauce to warm before serving.

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That sounds delicious! I should be able to find something to do with hot fudge sauce...

[Chocolot]

Kerry's liquid caramel is wonderful and keeps forever.

[Darienne]

Perhaps it is anathema on this list, but I know that you can freeze cream. I have frozen whipping cream and used it later, although of course you cannot whip it.

[theabroma]

Or .... you could make some killer creme fraiche ... which will keep much longer, and which makes verrrrry interesting ganache (if you can keep the spoons and fingers out of it!)

Theabroma

[Desiderio]

What about a nice batch of creme brulee or panna cotta and maybe use it for filling for some cold chocolates.

[tmriga]

Whipped cream ice cream, anyone?

Whip sweetened cream stiff, then fold in some fruit puree, chocolate chips, pretzel chunks, whatever.

Freeze.

Enjoy!

Theresa

[Mike B4]

You can always freeze it to use at a later date.

Mike

[CaliPoutine]

So what did you end up doing with it?

[tammylc]

I forgot it in the fridge of the kitchen I work at. But that's okay, because I haven't had a minute to do anything with it yet!

I believe my best before was 10/26, so I'm going to retrieve it tonight and make your hot fudge sauce. Then, if I'm feeling really ambitious, I may try to make a small batch of that strawberry buttercream recipe from the confection class thread.

Or I'll experiment with a caramel or something to fill some chocolate bar molds i've got poured and haven't done anything with yet.

[Pam R]

Chances are the cream will last you beyond the 26th. The date is usually a sell-by and not a use-by date.

[tammylc]

Chances are the cream will last you beyond the 26th.  The date is usually a sell-by and not a use-by date.

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This cream is from a local dairy, and not UHT pasteurized. So it doesn't tend to last much past its dates.

[tammylc]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I ended up making Randi's hot fudge sauce (yum, and I haven't even had it on ice cream yet). Then I tried to make a caramel white chocolate ganache from Andrew Schotts Garrison's book, but the ganache broke and a threw it away.

In the non-cream world, I made some buttercrunch from Grewling, and toasted some almonds and chopped them up and put them into some bar molds that I'd poured a while ago, then topped them off with chocolate. But I'd only tempered enough chocolate to fill 6 of the 12 cavities. Trying to figure out what to do with the other 6, I realized that the pretzels I use for my sweet-salty-crunchy bar would fit perfectly into each section of the 3-section bar. So I used some more of my cream to make up a half batch of salty caramel, piped some peanut butter in each mold, squished a pretzel onto it, filled it up with the caramel and then backed it off with chocolate. Turned out pretty well, although I'm on the fence as to whether I like the dipped or molded version better. The molded one is a little larger. It would be an easy thing to do with extra chocolate in order to add some bars onto other production - EXCEPT that I really prefer this bar with a 60% coating instead of the 72% I typically use for my molded pieces. Oh well - it was a tasty experiment.

And that used up most of my extra cream!