Caramel is basically cooked sugar.
It’s created by either heating sugar on its own up to melting point and then a little bit beyond that.
Or by mixing it with water, bringing it up to melting point and evaporating off the water.
There’s also caramel, the slightly gooey substance which is more chocolate-like in its sensation and pairings. It’s the stuff inside a Caramello Koala.
That (well probably not that inside the Koala), but that sort of stuff has butter or cream added to the caramel.
Salt is mostly sodium chloride, with a few other minor bits and pieces.
Salt is basically a flavour enhancer, it also preserves organic material quite well.
Salt’s method of enhancing flavour is a little bit complicated, but from what I understand it suppresses bitterness.[1] But also increase sweet, sour and umami flavours.[2]
Some other sites and people around the internets will suggest the salt cuts through the sweet flavours and allows the other flavours; sour and umami to shine through.
Now that I’ve given a quick run through of caramel and salt, moving on to Coles.
Coles has for sale two salted caramel products, the first I noticed because I nearly bought it, but didn’t the second I noticed because it was for sale.
“Salted Caramel Filled Donuts 6PK”.
These were in Coles when I wandered through the baked goods isle.
I almost bought them because I thought they were Coles’ jam filled variety of jam doughnut, something which I probably shouldn’t buy or eat, but do on occasion. They’re not the best jam doughnut, I could probably get a better one from the local bakery or something like that, I could definitely get a better one by going to a Sunday market sort of affair. But occasionally when in the supermarket they’re not bad. If you buy them on the day they’re cooked, sometimes Coles lets them sit in the packet for 3+ days.
These weren’t jam filled doughnuts though.
These were “Salted Caramel Filled Donuts”.
I’m under no delusion that the jam filling has much resemblance to fruit (although it does have some, mostly apple and a bit of red fruit usually strawberry or maybe raspberry).
But “Salted Caramel Filled Donuts” is just...
A doughnut is a ball of basically bread, covered in sugar, then filled with jam.
But these “Salted Caramel Filled Donuts”, that’s over doing it, over icing the doughnut with that amount of stuff.
The other item that caught my eye was “Salted Caramel Peanuts 400grams”. Sweet peanuts in general I just don’t get, the same with sweet popcorn.
The other item, which I only found by looking on Coles online is salted caramel ice cream.
I just...I guess people are buying it if they’re offering it.
But it seems just a little too over indulgent.
Caramel is essentially cooked sugar, paired with salt.
If it’s a caramel sauce type thing it’s cooked sugar, butter or cream and then added salt.
I know no one’s claiming these things are health foods. But there is something, to me that seems like this is too much.
Like this is a bad combination of things, made easily available as a filling for a doughnut.
Having a doughnut isn’t exactly the healthiest choice, but it’s usually just a hit of dough and sugar (and if you’re really lucky something that began life as a fruit).
But with Coles’ “Salted Caramel Filled Donuts” you get that double whack of salt as well.