Crafted Confections at Urban Coffee Lounge!

We are so excited to announce that starting April 26th, you will be able to get your Crafted fix at Urban Coffee Lounge (both locations!) every day!

UCL offers amazing espresso drinks, has a great tea selection, and also serves beer and wine. On Wednesday's they do live music in the evening making it a great spot to meet with friends, or have a date night.

They will be rotating treats, so make sure to visit often, and try everything. Here is a list of what they will be offering to get you excited:

Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Theo Chocolate Cocoa Nib Brownies
Malted Milk Bar
Salted Caramel Pretzel Bars (new!)
Salted Caramel Rice Krispy (new!)
PB Sammy (new!)
Cocoa Sammy (new!)
Cardamom Vanilla Bean Scone (new!)
Stumptown Espresso Scone (new!

Also, they use our delicious caramel sauce for their caramel latte, you've got to try it! 

RECIPE: Salted Caramel Pudding


When I was younger, one of my favorite things was when my mom would take us to the grocery store for homemade pudding. My sister and I followed a routine, I'd get chocolate and she'd would get butterscotch. We never thought to try anything different. Using that as inspiration, I consider this recipe the next evolution. It caters to my "grown up" palette, and avoids producing a treat that is overly sweet. You'll need a full jar of our Fleur De Sel for this recipe but it makes a lot of pudding. A perfect dessert for entertaining your friends!

 INGREDIENTS:

Makes 8 large servings

Pudding:
3 cups whole milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
3/4 cup Crafted Confections Fleur De Sel Caramel Sauce, heated until thin consistency.
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Cookie Crumble:

1 cup chocolate cookies (I like to use Oreo's)
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt

Garnish:
Lightly sweetened whipped cream (1/2 cup whipping cream + 2 tbsp powdered sugar)
Crafted Confection's Fleur De Sel Caramel Sauce
Fleur De Sel Salt

PROCESS:

Cookie Crumble: 

1. Put cookies in a food processor, pulse until fine. If you don't have a food processor, just crush them up as finely as possible.
2. Pulse in salt.
3. Pulse in butter, until distributed evenly.

Salted Caramel Pudding:

1. In a medium sauce pan, heat up 2 1/2 cups of milk over medium heat.
2. While milk is heating up, in a separate bowl, combine yolks, sugar, corn starch, and 1/2 cup milk. Whisk until smooth. 
3. Once the milk in the sauce pan is hot, SLOWLY pour half of the milk into the egg/starch mix, while constantly whisking. You want to do this very slowly so the eggs won't start to cook. 
4. Once half is whisked in, whisk in the salted caramel sauce. Slowly whisk the caramel mix back into the sauce pan over medium heat. 
5. You will want to whisk this mixture constantly until it thickens up, and you see the first bubble (cooking off the starch taste). DO NOT WALK AWAY. Keep stirring, so you don't end up with scrambled eggs in your pudding.
6. Once you see the first bubble, take off heat and stir in vanilla, salt, and butter. 
7. Pour through a fine strainer into a metal bowl, discarding any overcooked bits. Put saran wrap over the pudding, touching the saran wrap to the pudding so a skin doesn't form.
8. Let cool/thicken for 4-5 hours in the fridge. 

Whipped Cream:

Whisk the cream until peaks start to form, add in powdered sugar and continue to whisk until stiff peaks form. Keep in fridge until ready to use.

SERVING:

1. I like to use clear glasses (stemless wine glasses work great!) to show off the layers. In each glass, put a couple scoops of cookie crumble at the bottom, gently pressing the crumble into the glass.
2. Next, layer with pudding. About 1/2 cup per glass. 
3. Next spoon some Crafted Confection's caramel sauce over the top. Microwave the sauce so it is easily spoonable.
4. Top with a scoop of whipped cream, cookie crumble, and a pinch of Fleur De Sel salt. 
5. Keep in fridge until serving. Best served day of assembly, but can be made the day before.

Tag us and show me your Salted Caramel Pudding creations! #CraftedConfections.

RECIPE: Iced Salted Caramel Mocha

Thank God It's (almost) Friday!
Since becoming a mom, coffee has been a morning routine necessity! Nothing’s better than a perfect cup of hot coffee, but after tending to Hazel I always came back to cold coffee. And let’s be honest, reheating coffee in the microwave just isn’t the same. I’ve now moved to grabbing cold brew out of the fridge for iced drinks - since they hold up so much better and it’s all I have time for. Enjoy this quick and easy recipe, and feel like you've treated yourself to something special from a fancy coffee shop.


INGREDIENTS:

Coffee:
1/2 cup cold brew coffee (I make my own, but you can grab some from my friends at Anchorhead Coffee that is AMAZING)
1/2 cup milk
2 TBSP Crafted Confections Fleur De Sel Caramel
1 TBSP chocolate sauce (any will do, I love this recipe, I always have a jar in my fridge)

Lightly Sweetened Whipped Cream:
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 TSP powdered sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split in half, scrape the seeds

Garnish:
Crafted Confections Fleur De Sel Caramel Sauce
Fleur De Sel Salt (or any chunky salt, Maldon is also great)
Sprinkles (optional, but great for holidays, or just for fun) 

PROCESS:

Coffee:
1. Pour cold brew into microwavable cup. Put in chocolate and caramel sauce. Microwave in short intervals, stirring in between. You want the chocolate and caramel to be completely dissolved.
2. Pour cold brew mix into serving glass. Pour milk into serving glass.
3. Set glass in fridge, make the whipped cream.

Whipped Cream:
1. Pour heavy cream in small bowl and whisk until light peaks form. Normally I whisk everything on my KitchenAid, but this is such a small amount it will whip up fast. 
2. Once light peaks form, add in powdered sugar and vanilla bean. Whisk together until firm peaks form.

Serving:
Pull out glass from fridge, top with ice. Top with whipped cream. I like using a cookie scoop for my whipped cream so I can get the perfect mounded shape to top my drink with. Using a squeeze bottle or spoon, lightly top the cream with caramel. Sprinkle with a pinch of chunky salt and sprinkles. Enjoy!

This recipe is easy to double or quadruple and keep in the fridge (coffee mix and whipped cream separate) so that you can quickly whip it up whenever you'd like. 

I would love to see any pictures of your version of this magical drink. Make sure to tag us, or you can use the hashtag #CraftedConfections.

Crafted Confections at Lolli and Pops!

We are so excited to finally announce that you can now find Crafted's top selling caramel sauces (Fleur De Sel, Bourbon, and Spiced Apple Cider) at all Washington Lolli and Pops locations! 

The Lolli and Pops stores are gorgeous, and a dream to visit. Take a look below at the Washington stores, you will fall in LOVE!

Lolli and Pops, Westfield Southcenter


Lolli and Pops, Westfield Southcenter


Lolli and Pops, The Bellevue Collection


Lolli and Pops, Alderwood Mall

 

RECIPE: Banana Foster French Toast with Crafted Caramel!


Our first recipe we wanted to share, is this DELICIOUS Banana Foster French Toast using our signature Fleur De Sel Caramel Sauce! This dish is everything weekend dreams are made of! 

INGREDIENTS:

French Toast:
  • 1 loaf of rich bread (we used challah, but brioche would be delicious as well)
  • 3 whole eggs (lg.) and 3 yolks (save the whites for Monday's healthy breakfast ;) )
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1 vanilla bean, split in half, seeds scraped out
  • 1 tsp kosher salt

Rum Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 3 TBSP rum (the alcohol will cook off so it is kid friendly, however if you don't want to use it, just omit)
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 3 bananas, sliced

Garnish:


PROCESS:

French Toast:
1. Slice the bread about 1/2" thick, set aside.2. Whisk together the eggs, yolk, milk, vanilla bean, and salt.
2. Dip each slice of bread into the mixture, each slice should be soaked with the mixture.
3. Heat a medium size skillet over medium high heat, throw in a couple tablespoons of butter.
4. When warm, put bread slices onto skillet. Cook for 2-4 minutes on each side, you are looking for that beautiful browning on each slice.
5. This might take you a couple rounds depending how many slices you have, to keep slices warm, put in a warm oven (200 degrees F) until you are ready to eat.

Rum Sauce:

1. In a small sauce pan, melt butter over medium high heat.
2. Once butter is melted and slightly bubbling, whisk in brown sugar. 
3. Once sugar is dissolved, toss in the rum and salt. Let mixture come back to a light boil, cooking off the alcohol.
4. Turn down heat to medium, add in sliced bananas, cook until your desired texture. The longer you cook, the softer the bananas will be.
5. Once done, keep on medium-low heat until ready to eat.

Bruleed Bananas (optional):

If you have a culinary torch, this is the perfect time to use it! For each serving, dip about 5 slices of banana in sugar on one side. Quickly torch each side that the sugar is on, until you see the sugar start to caramelize.

Plating:

  • Lightly microwave your Crafted Caramel Sauce, you can make it as thin as you want, but I like ours just slightly warmed up so it holds it shape on the plate.
  • If you have a kitchen squeeze bottle, that is ideal for presentation. If you don't, no worries, you can just spoon it over the plate. If using a squeeze bottle, I like to do a generous zig zag pattern on bottom of plate.
  • Put one slice of bread horizontally on plate, and one laying on top vertical.
  • Using a ladle, pour desired amount of sauce over french toast.
  • If using bruleed bananas, lay over vertical piece of french toast.
Voila! You are done! Enjoy!

I would love to see any pictures of your creation of this tasty breakfast. Make sure to tag us, or you can use the hashtag #CraftedConfections.