Category Archives: Caramel

We just say “NO” to corn syrup.

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With the recent announcement by the FDA that they will not allow the Corn Refiners Association to change the name of “corn syrup” to “corn sugar” on food labels, I thought I would celebrate by  finally putting out a little blog I’ve been sitting on for a few months that covers our relationship (or lack there of!) to corn syrup and why it’s so important to us at BBx.

Some of our all-natural ingredients: Raw Cocoa Powder, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Coconut Palm Sugar, Vanilla Beans

Corn syrup is the primary invert sugar used in confectionery.  What’s an invert sugar, you ask? Well, it’s a culinary term used to describe a kind of sugar that’s pretty shy and keeps to itself….  (Damn.  How did that “dad joke” get into this blog post?!)

Invert sugars are extremely important in confectionery.  Their primary function is to prevent the candy, whether it’s a hard candy or a fondant or everything in between, from crystallizing.  But what exactly is an invert sugar?  Simply put, it’s a syrup of some kind.  It can be any syrup; some common examples are agave, honey, maple, or as I’ve mentioned, corn syrup.  Some confectioners even make their own invert sugars using granulated sugar that they cook into a syrup.

I’m not going to get all nerdy and go food scientist on you but suffice to say using an invert sugar makes manufacturing or making confections much easier, the downside being that it can add a significant cost to the price of a finished product if you’re trying to use a non-corn syrup alternative.  Let’s talk about how corn syrup goes from kernel to bottle and why that matters.

Corn syrup is made using a process called wet milling.  It is described pretty succinctly at Sweet Scam, a corn syrup advocacy group:

“To make high fructose corn syrup, the corn is first harvested and sent to the wet mill.

Next, the corn is crushed in a mill and then run through screens in order to separate the corn starch from other parts of the kernel.

After being separated, natural enzymes are added to the liquid, which converts some of the sugars in the liquid from glucose to fructose. The resulting liquid is typically 42 percent fructose and 58 percent glucose.

From there, the liquid is passed through activated carbon and filtered.

The final product is called HFCS-42, and is used to sweeten many baked goods.

Some of the HFCS-42 then goes through a liquid filtration process to increase the fructose content, creating a liquid that is 90 percent fructose. This product is called HFCS-90.

Finally, the two liquids, HFCS-42 and HFCS-90, are blended to make a mixture that is 55% fructose. The final blend, called HFCS-55, is widely used as a sweetener in sodas.”

It is noteworthy to mention two things here:
1) The “activated carbon” described above is most commonly what is called “bone char,” charcoal made from the bones of dead animals, usually cows.  So most conventionally processed sugars, even the granulated kind, are not vegetarian or vegan.
2) There is only one non-GMO, organic corn syrup out there that I’m aware of and, to my knowledge, it’s not being used by any candy makers.  When you see corn syrup on a food label, what you are getting is something that began as a genetically modified, chemically-farmed food crop that has been highly processed into a nutritionless sugar substance.

It’s hard to understand how the Corn Refiners Association can call this product “natural” considering how many steps, alterations, and chemical processes it has to undergo to be usable in the form of corn syrup.  Don’t be fooled by claims that all sugars are the same because they are chemically composed of glucose and fructose.  That is a truth but it fails to recognize that in order for the body to digest and integrate glucose and fructose, it needs a set of essential enzymes and nutrients that are stripped away in the refining process making it terribly difficult for your body to digest.  Hence the spike you get in blood sugar when consuming highly refined sugars like corn syrup.  But don’t take my word for it, read more from our guest blogger, nutritionist and dietician Alex Mart.

According to this infographic, high-fructose corn syrup consitutes 10% of caloric intake in a typical American’s diet.  So corn syrup is cheap and it’s in everything.  How did we get here, you may wonder?

According to the Environmental Working Group’s 2011 Farm Subsidy Database, between 1995-2010, corn was subsidized by the US Government in an amount exceeding $77 billion, making it the most highly subsidized crop as well as extremely cheap for food producers to use in their products.  In addition to the consistency the producer is able to maintain as a result of the heavy processing of the product, the cost savings over other alternative ingredients makes is an obvious choice.  So the candymaker, or other food manufacturer, is gaining a cost savings and enjoys minimal variance in results of their finished product.  Why wouldn’t anyone use this instead of the more costly alternatives like honey, maple, and brown rice syrup?

Our country’s Obesity Epidemic has been garnering a lot of media attention recently. HBO’s Weight of the Nation and Gary Taubes’ Newsweek cover story are only two very recent examples of the much needed growing dialogue on the subject.  It’s becoming clear that one of the biggest contributing factors is the overuse of refined sugars.

Some confectioners are wisely starting to shift their invert sugar to healthier alternatives.  We at Barbary Brix use organic brown rice syrup from sustainable, organic Northern California growers, Lundberg Family Farm.  Let’s talk about how this is made and what it is.

Janet Souza over at Lundberg described their process for us:

1)      Brown rice is cultured with plenty of water and gluten-free enzymes
2)      The enzymes help digest the brown rice and convert the starches to sugars
3)      The resulting liquid is cooked down into brown rice syrup

Simple, right?  None of this chemistry mumbo jumbo.  We love it and feel great about using it in our product.  Unlike corn syrup, this organic brown rice syrup has the nutrients and enzymes your body needs to break it down efficiently and integrate it for ready use as energy in your body.  Your body is able to do this at a more sustained rate, so you get less of that spazzed out sugar rush; basically, it’s significantly lower glycemic than refined sugar.

We also love the flavor it imparts!  Unlike the flavorless, saccharine-y corn syrup, brown rice syrup adds a creamy, earthy, almost maltiness to our caramels.  We often get asked why our product tastes so buttery despite the fact that we don’t add butter.  In addition to the high quality, organic cream we use, we believe the inherent creaminess of the brown rice syrup amps up this quality in our product without making it too sweet or cloying.

To summarize,  in my humble opinion, it’s time for all of us as consumers to start expecting healthier food alternatives that exclude corn syrup.  It’s in everything from pasta sauce to “fruit” juices; just take a gander at those food labels and you’ll see!  We want to see food manufacturers treat their consumers’ health with respect; taking the 10% of caloric intake from corn syrup OUT of our food products would be a great step in the right direction.

It’s a tall order and nothing will be fixed overnight.  Mark Bittman at the New York Times wrote a great, balanced piece last year on the subject of the past/present state and future possibilities of farm subsidies and their relationship to our food choices, corn syrup included.  If you’d like to become more informed, it’s well worth your time to give it a read.

In the meantime, go ahead and feel good about enjoying your corn syrup free Barbary Brix caramels and spread the love about healthier, responsibly made candy options!

Yours Truly, Melissa

Straus Family Farm & Creamery Chef’s Tour, Part I: The Farm

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Oh to be a Straus cow, what a lovely life!

We arrived bright and early with only a few unexpected navigational hiccups and one coordinational mishap (not surprisingly mine) on our way from San Francisco to Marshall in West Marin, California to see for ourselves why the dairy products from the first certified organic farm west of the Mississippi are so incredibly outstanding.

After rendezvous’ing with the other participants in Straus Family Creamery’s twice-yearly Chef’s Tour, we all piled into six cars to head up to the beautifully situated dairy farm on Northern California’s picturesque Tomales Bay.

Overlooking Tomales Bay, CA

Bay Area Fog... Just because you can't see Tomales Bay, doesn't mean it's not there and stunning behind its shroud.

After a nice foot bath on the way onto the property to prevent any outside contaminants and germs, the first thing we saw on our walk up was the “maternity ward,” a large fenced yard speckled with a small collection of the most pregnant cows in the herd.

Pregnant Cows Enjoying Some Delicious Fodder

Cows, like humans, gestate their offspring for nine months.  Straus cows spend the last two months of pregnancy off of the milking line, relaxin’… just making a baby cow and noshing on fresh grass in the pastures all day.  The last few weeks of their pregnancies are spent together, close to home, awaiting the big day when their calves are born.

Momma Cow in the "Maternity Ward"

At Straus, 100% of the calves they add to their herd of approximately 600 cows are bred and born right on the Farm.  They are a mix of Jerseys and Holsteins, some pure bred and some mixed. In the herd there are also a few Swiss Brown cows[i] for diversity.

As we continued on the tour, we learned the reason for the mixed herd.  Holsteins produce a greater volume of milk with a lower fat to water ratio, meaning they produce a less creamy milk.  Jerseys, on the other hand, produce a lesser volume of milk with a higher fat to water content, meaning they produce a smaller amount of creamier milk. The diversity of the herd makes for a richer milk product when it is combined at the Creamery.

Back in the 1940s, Bill Straus, a German Jew who escaped Nazi Germany, started this herd with 23 Jersey cows, all named for various friends and relatives.  The herd is now nearly 600 healthy, organic cows strong, 275 of which are milking cows.  “The Girls” are given lots of space and live in an environment that is “as stress free as possible.”  This is not only important for their general well-being and happiness but it also keeps them all in excellent health and as a result there is a very low incidence of illness in the herd.

How do you give a herd of cows an environment that is as stress free as possible you might wonder?  Well, in addition to basic comforts like sleeping in a warm barn full of foam mattresses covered in rice hulls, at Straus the cows spend a good amount of their time grazing on fresh grass in the pastures.  Due to erosion concerns and the health of the herd, they spend their time out there when the weather permits, mostly from April to November, with the exception of very wet conditions.  To supplement their pasture diet, the Farm purchases 100% organic, vegetarian feed from a local mill and also throws in some nutrient rich silage that is fermented right there on the Farm with fodder from local, organic cover crops like alfalfa.  (I tried some, it was delightful!)  An interesting factoid related to the feed at Straus is that they are the first dairy product company to be non-GMO Project Verified!  Trust us, this is NO small feat and we commend their tireless efforts to this cause.  Not surprisingly, they are also Animal Welfare Approved.

Our wonderful Tour Guide showing off some of the ingredients in the organic, vegetarian feed.

Silage, a fermented fodder densely packed with nutrients from local, organic cover crops.

We then moved on to my favorite part of the tour.  I don’t think too much discussion on the subject is required so so just sit back and  enjoy this adorable intermission with a BABY COW PHOTO MONTAGE!!!

Baby Bertha is so sleeepppyyyyy....

Are you enamored?  We were!

As we were walking down the hill from the calf barn, I noticed there was something amiss…  Ever driven down I-5 or through an area with lots of dairy or cattle farms?  What’s the first thing that comes to your mind?  The acrid smell of animal waste, right?  Well, I was shocked when it suddenly occurred to me that all the time we had been on the farm discussing organic practices and taste testing probiotic cow fodder, I had yet to smell poop!  “What is this witchcraft?!?” I wondered to myself.  As we got closer everything was revealed; the answer is kind of magical, as it turns out…

Two words: METHANE DIGESTER.

View of the Methane Digester overlooking Tomales Bay.

Sounds pretty badass, right?  Well, it is.  Read on.

With a grant to help them get started, the Farm was able to put in an amazing piece of equipment that allows them to take the liquid waste[ii] from the cows as well as the waste water from the Creamery and through an anabolic process that separates the methane gasses, they create RENEWABLE ENERGY that powers everything on the farm, even some of the vehicles.  Read that sentence again if the amazingness hasn’t sunk in yet.  Not only does this drastically reduce their carbon footprint by negating their emissions, it also allows them to put the would-be detrimental by-products of raising milking cows to a very good use.  The system hasn’t just been environmentally beneficial, the Farm saves ~$4,000 a month in energy costs and the whole system paid for itself in only four years from the time it was installed.  I’m no financial guru but talk about a good ROI!!  That’s not just smart business, it’s environmentally responsible business that is paying off in every way.

Looking out towards the pastures...

You might be thinking that it’s impossible to beat that kind of eco-friendly cred!  Well, you’d be wrong.  Bill Straus wasn’t the only California pioneer and champion of responsible farming.  His wife, Ellen Straus was green waaaaay before it was hip!  She co-founded our country’s first agricultural land trust, the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, which can be credited with protecting and preserving the farming way of life in west Marin County, making it possible for the thriving, organic community of farmers that cultivate there today.   Albert Straus, their son, took on their legacy and converted the Straus farm to organic in 1994, the same year he founded the first 100% certified organic creamery in the US.  Talk about legit!

As we piled back into our cars to head to the Creamery, I have to admit I got a little verklempt ruminating on what a beautiful, holistic system the Straus Family and their colleagues have built in that place.  I truly admire the legacy that environmentalists Bill and Ellen Straus began and that their son Albert is now continuing to build.  I’m so tremendously grateful we have access to a product not only outstanding in flavor and quality but surpassing in environmental responsibility, not just for our candy products but for my personal use as well.  If I wasn’t a hardcore devotee to the line of Straus products before, I would be now.

To be continued at the Creamery….

Love,
Sugar

***Photos courtesy of the amazing Cap’n Rob!!***

[i] See what I did right there?  I made you recite the phrase “How now brown cow?” involuntarily in your head.
[ii] The solid waste is turned into organic fertilizer!  Nothing goes to, ahem, waste around here. Pun intended.

The Morning Glory – Bacon Caramels

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Here at Barbary Brix, we love some variety in our flavors. Long time fans will recognize that we’ve offered our own bacon + maple caramels from time to time…. That said, when we get a chance to try some new exciting ingredients, we’re all over it.  This is doubly so when we can get our hands on some responsibly raised, heritage breed bacon that comes from people dedicated to doing things right and keeping things local.

So when we heard from a friend that they could get us in contact with Tellurian to sample some of their Maialino Bacon, we immediately said, “YUP!”

If you’re looking for the short version: The Maialino Bacon combined with our base caramel recipe = scrumptious culinary bliss.

What follows is more about the bacon and how we prepped it than the caramels. But fear not, there’s plenty of carameley goodness to come at the end. It won’t be the wordiest article, but we think that you’ll appreciate it.

For the record, we cooked down 1lb. of this amazing bacon and added it to about 4lbs. of our basic caramel recipe. We didn’t add any maple, vanilla or anything else in order to let the true flavor of this amazing porcine product shine through.

We figured that this was a good post for tons of bacon pics, so if you’re a fan of the fine swine, keep reading.

Check out the marbling on this bacon!

Maialino Bacon in all of its uncooked glory!

Still in the package, almost taunting you with it's deliciousness!

So, once we get it out of the package, it’s time to cut it up into even sized pieces. While this isn’t an exact science, you can get pretty close:

We recommend slicing the bacon in half the long way before the short way to ensure smaller, more evenly sized pieces.

Slice those bad boys down the center the long way to set you up for an easier time cutting into smaller pieces in the next step.

Now it’s time to give your chopping skills a test. Try and cut the short way as evenly as possible.

Now chop it up!

Give it a nice even chop the short way!

About 1/8″ gives the best results we’ve seen, without being too difficult on the knife skills front. Don’t worry if there’s not exactly the same size, just get them as close as you can.  You’ll end up with a glorious pile of bacon bits that resembles something like this:

Uncooked Bacon bits!

Boom: uncooked bacon bits!

Now, into the pan on a medium heat. One word of warning, this is going to take a good 20 minutes or so, depending on your stove… So error on the side of the heat being a little too low so you don’t accidentally scorch your precious bacon!

Bacon in the pan, medium heat

This is where the magic starts to happen! Careful to not have the heat up too high!

Let it cook for a while… You’re going to see it start to sweat out and get a bit of a sheen to it:

Keep cooking!

Time to start keeping a closer eye on it!

You'll start to see more and more of the fat render. Keep an eye on it! If there is bacon grease popping out of the pan aggressively, turn the heat down a bit.

Getting closer!

Bacon's almost done! Just another minute or two!

Getting there! When you see it "foam" up a bit, you're just a couple of minutes away.

At this point, make sure you’re giving it a slow, steady stir to make sure that all the warm, rendered pork fat is evenly cooking the bacon bits:

Keep stirring the bacon to ensure even cooking!

Keep stirring to ensure an even cooking!

Okay, time to stop that cooking by pouring the whole mix through a strainer. Make sure to save the bacon fat for other treats! In this case, we had a wire strainer over a smaller pot.

Pour it out, make sure to save the flavor packed bacon grease!

Pour it out, make sure to save the flavor packed bacon grease!

Let it drain for a minute or so, then tap the side of the strainer a few times to knock any remaining grease off the bottom and you should be left with something as glorious as this:

Tell me that doesn't look like a little pile of heaven.

Resist the temptation to grab a handful of these: 1) Because you want all that bacon to make it in the caramel and 2) They're still hot as hell!

Next to make sure that we weren’t adding too much fat to our final caramel product, we did a quick blotting on a towel to get a little more of the grease off.

The bacon after a quick "wicking of the grease" on a towel

The bacon after a quick "wicking of the grease" on a towel

Now it’s time to add the bacon to some caramel that’s just getting finished cooking.

Meet your new home, little buddies!

Meet your new home, little buddies!

After a quick stir to ensure even distribution of the bacon bits, time to pour it out!

Pour that goodness!

Pour that goodness!

 

Put on some Yacht Rock, cause this stuff is smoooth!

Put on some Yacht Rock, cause this stuff is smoooth!

Now comes the hard part. You have to wait for the caramel to cool down to room temperature. Don’t worry it will be worth the wait. Once it’s “cool enough”, cut them up into whatever size piece you like. We go for “squarish”.

Little squares of heaven, waiting to get consumes...err.. wrapped up.

Little squares of heaven, waiting to get consumed...err... wrapped up.

Now, just wrap them up for later since you won’t be able to eat the whole pan in one go (trust us, not worth it no matter how good idea it seems at the time).

Resist the temptation to eat them here. Your friends and family will thank you.

Resist the temptation to eat them here. Your friends and family will thank you.

Just kidding, now’s the time to eat away! But any you do manage to save for a bit will garner you some serious brownie points with your friends and family.

Okay, enough out of us. I’d recommend heading down to the store, getting your hands on some caramel making ingredients and seeing if you can’t get your hands on Tellurian Bacon to recreate the magic!

-BBx

Caramel Fondue Recipe

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There’s about as many different modern versions of fondue as there are Swiss people in Switzerland.  (Which is about 7.5 million in case you were wondering.) I mean, it’s obvious why that is, right?

 “Let’s dip delicious stuff into warm delicious sauce!”

Genius.  But here’s a better question: why should cheese and chocolate get to have all the fun!?

Formula 79, to the rescue!  Our newest (and possibly dreamiest) caramel treat is a salted vanilla bean caramel sauce.  Named for the atomic weight of gold, it’s rich and buttery with a subtle sweetness and soft creaminess.  We cook it in small batches using our flavorful, unique sugars, rich Strauss cream, freshly scraped vanilla beans, and a hint of Balinese Sea Salt.

Like all of our delectable caramel treats, we don’t use corn syrup, refined white sugar, butter, preservatives, or anything artificial.  In fact, we only use sustainably farmed, organic, ultra premium ingredients like minimally processed sugars that add complex, layered flavors and nutritional value while also being lower glycemic and gluten free.

How perfect is it then, that the fondue world was crying out for a new medium to dip all those yummy cookies, breads, pretzels, and fruits in?  Is there a prize for solving important problems such as these?  If so, we accept.

Barbary Brix's Formula 79 caramel fondue

For our super simple recipe below, we selected some local, organic strawberries and Pink Lady apples, cooked up some Applegate bacon, toasted some organic mini waffles, and got our hands on Annie’s Organic Pretzel Bunnies and Mary’s Gone Crackers’ Pretzel Sticks. You can pretty much use anything you think would taste good with warm, dreamy caramel sauce all over it.

Here’s the step by step:

  1. Prep the things you want to dip.
  2. Pour jar of Formula 79 into sauce pan.
  3. Warm on low heat until desired temperature.  We suggest, slightly warm.
  4. Pour into fondue pot or bowl.
  5. Dip your treats!
  6. Enjoy.
  7. Repeat.

Don’t forget the bubbly!  All of our caramels pair exquisitely with the sparking white wines but none as wonderfully as the Formula 79.  It’s like they were made for each other (tres romantique!) and if we at BBx have strong convictions about anything it’s that you never need a “special” occasion to pop open a bottle of the champ-fun!

Cheers!
Sugar + The Cap’n

PS  We understand if you’re too excited to wait for the caramel sauce to warm up to fondue temperatures.  So, we’ll just make sure and mention that this sauce is smooth, dip-able, and spreadable, even when it’s cold.

PPS It really took a lot of self control to not title this post: “Fondue me, baby!!”  Don’t judge.

Dear Santa…

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We’ve been very good this year (so far).  It’s a little early for this but since the holiday season gets busy both at BBx and at The North Pole, we thought we’d get our Dear Santa in early.

If it’s not too much trouble, please send us a double twist wrapping machine for Christmas this year.  Either that or maybe loan us some of your elves?  We pay in candy and we saw Elf so we know how much elves like candy…

Also, will you take caramels and bourbon in the place of cookies and milk?  Let us know, we’re flexible but we’ve got a really nice Maple + Bacon caramel coming out if you’re into it…

Thanks in advance for all your help,
The BBx Team

Our Ingredients: Coconut Palm Nectar

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The primary sugar used in Barbary Brix caramels is the delightfully healthy and delicious Coconut Palm Nectar! We use it for a lot of meritorious reasons, which I will now illuminate for you below…


  1. It’s the most environmentally sustainable sweetener crop in the WORLD! Well, at least according The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)…
  2. It’s lower glycemic than almost any other sugar!
  3. It’s good for you with vitamins, mineral and enzymes your body needs!
  4. It tastes delicious on its own or in other foods – especially caramel!

I know what you’re thinking… “Prove it!” So here goes…

Coconut Palm uses a very small amount of water compared to other sweetener crops. In addition, it is grown in tropical climates with lots of rain so the farmers don’t have to do any irrigating. The plants themselves produce a very high yield of nectar for a small crop area and they also – get this – REPLENISH nutrients in the soil rather than depleting it. In addition, the farmers don’t have to destroy the plant to harvest the nectar, making the sugar a renewable resource. On top of all that, unlike conventional sugars like white sugar (mostly made from GMO beets) the Coconut Palm Nectar is unrefined so it retains the vitamins, minerals, and enzymes your body needs in order to digest it well. Which, brings me to my next point – when you talk about lower glycemic sweeteners, it doesn’t get much lower than this.

What exactly does that mean and why should you care? To get a really easy-to-understand explanation of how different types of sugars are broken down in your body, read our guest blogger, Alex Mart’s post here! In the meantime, to make it short and sweet (pun intended), when your body processes sugars it needs certain enzymes and nutrients to do it without causing a huge spike in blood sugar.

Coconut Palm Sugar is loaded with B-vitamins, macro-nutrients like Potassium and Zinc, and plenty of good enzymes your body needs. Eating nutritious sugars, like this, allow your body to break the carbohydrates down gradually without depleting your stored mineral and vitamin resources. So, this is obviously good for everyone but the lower glycemic index make it especially good for diabetics, people with hypoglycemia and children who suffer from sugar-induced spastic episodes (so pretty much ALL of them).

Wanna see a comparison chart of different sugars’ nutrient content? Check it!

Last, but certainly not least is the fact that Coconut Palm Nectar tastes amazing and is a perfect addition to our caramels. Not too sweet but rich and complex, it creates layers of flavor so you end up with a smooth, fragrant caramel that tastes like caramel, not sugar. Don’t believe us? SF Weekly food writer, Jon Kauffman, recently described the flavor by saying: “While the Barbary Brix sweets are as sticky as conventional sugar caramels, the rice and coconut sweeteners give them a deeper, most complex flavor — similar to the difference between a piece of toast smeared with butter-flavored Crisco and one slathered in Irish cultured butter.” You can read more of his review here.

Are you also wondering where we get ours from? I’ll tell you anyway! While over two thirds of the ingredients in our products are local, there aren’t currently any Northern California coconut palm farms so we import this ingredient from Big Tree Farms, a sustainable co-op of small scale farmers in Bali. The technique used by these farmers to collect the nectar is the least damaging to the tree as it involves collecting nectar from the flower (inflorescence) rather than “tapping” the tree for sap. Big Tree Farms’ Coconut Palm Nectar is the most eco-friendly Palm Nectar on the market today and we feel great about their commitment to social and ecological responsibility.

Want to read more?? Here’s some cool links:

BBx Caramel Bread Puddin’ Recipe!! Try it today if you want to be popular.

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Making bread pudding is like cheating at culinary skills!  It’s SO easy and SO satisfying.  We created a super simple caramel-inspired recipe that anyone can master on the first try.  Promise.  Impress your friends with amazing cooking skills you never knew you had!  You’ll be the most popular kid in the book club (or whatever club)!  We won’t tell anyone how easy it was if you won’t…
The recipe instructions are in the text below but check out this video for the step-by-step…

Quick notes:



We highly recommend you use a “Good” sugar!  You know, an organic one that isn’t over processed so you get all the nutrients and enzymes your body needs to digest it well.  For example: coconut palm nectar, evaporated cane juice, honey, brown rice syrup, agave, etc. Keep in mind, depending on the type of sugar you use, it may be more or less sweet.  You can change the quantity of the GRANULATED sugars in the recipe to your liking without affecting the way the dish turns out but be careful with the SYRUPs – they add more liquid.  If you substitute with one of the syrups, we recommend you use ~1 cup of syrup and use ½ c LESS of either cream or milk.

You can use ANY of our delicious caramel chews in this recipe.  Just remember, if you are using a variation with vanilla bean, chocolate, nuts and/or spices, you might want to omit one of those ingredients below.

Now, let’s do this thing!

Ingredients:
1 loaf fresh, soft bread (like brioche or challah) cut into ¾” – 1” cubes
3 Eggs
4 Egg yolks
¾  c. Sugar
3 c. Cream + 2 c. Milk (or 5 c. Whole Milk if you’re skimping on fat)
4 T. Sweet butter (aka unsalted), melted
¾ t. Salt
1 Vanilla Bean Pod, scraped (optional)
1 t. Ground Cinnamon (optional)
10-15 Salty Dog caramel chews cut into quarters
½ c. Chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
½ c. Chocolate chips (optional)
Lots of LOVE (Mom’s secret ingredient; works like magic.)

Equipment:
Small saucepan
Cutting board + knife
Baking sheet(s)
Medium mixing bowl
Large prep bowl
Electric beater or wire whisk
Greased 9×13 Baking Pan

Directions:
Gettings Started..
  1. Preheat oven to 325°.

  2. Spread your bread cubes out in a single layer on one or a couple of baking sheets.

  3. Bake for 15 minutes to dry them out a bit.

  4. Remove from oven and let cool.  Set aside in large prep bowl.

  5. In small saucepan, melt your sweet butter and set aside.

  6. Use small amount of melted butter to grease your baking pan and set aside.

  7. Scrape your Vanilla Bean!  Not sure how?  Watch Sugar demonstrate or just cut it open the long way and fold it out flat.  Then use the back part of your knife to scrape the tiny little “seeds” out and set them aside.  The skin is potent so don’t throw it away!  Add it to a jar or bag of sugar and in no time at all you’ll have yummy Vanilla Sugar.  No vanilla bean pods??  Substitute with 2 t. Vanilla Extract.

  8. Unwrap  your caramel pieces and cut them into smaller pieces by quartering them.  Set aside for later.

Now for the custard! 
  1. Separate  your eggs!  Not sure how??  Check out Sugar’s video demonstration or google it!  It’s easy.  You can save the remaining egg whites in the fridge for up to FOUR days to use in other things or just cook with a little salt and pepper for breakfast.

  2. In medium mixing bowl, beat egg, egg yolks and sugar until a little bit frothy, about 1 ½ to 2 minutes.

  3. Add in the cream and milk to your eggs as you mix.

  4. Add vanilla bean (or extract), salt and cinnamon and mix until combined. 

  5. (Just be nice to your custard and don’t over-beat it!)

The final pre-cookin’ steps!
  1. In your large prep bowl, drizzle melted butter over your bread cubes and toss with your hands to get them all good and coated.  You can do this in stages, drizzling a bit then tossing, then drizzling some more, and so on.

  2. Add caramel pieces, nuts and chocolate chips and continue tossing with your hands to coat as well.

  3. Transfer your bread and goodies to your baking pan, making sure the goodies don’t all fall to the bottom of the pan but are evenly dispersed throughout the bread.

  4. Pour your custard evenly over the top of the bread mixture, smooshing it in there nice and good with your hands.  The bread is going to act like a custard sponge so make sure they all soak plenty up!

  5. Cover and store in the refrigerator for at least an hour (or up to a day).

Cook it up!
  1. When you’re ready to cook it up, take your puddin’ out of the fridge while you preheat your oven to 350° and cook for 30-45 minutes or until it is cooked through (custard should be “set” or not runny) and golden brown on top.

  2. Serve warm!  You can even add a scoop of your favorite ice cream or any dessert sauce if that suits your fancy.

  3. Enjoy!  :)

Have Your Candy and Eat It Too – How BBx is changing the face of candy-making

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We recently met the lovely and brilliant Alex Mart, a San Francisco-based Health Counselor who was so excited about our product that she offered to be our very first GUEST BLOGGER! Want to know more about how different types of sugar effect your body and why you should care? Read on, folks!



Have Your Candy and Eat It Too – How BBx is changing the face of candy-making

The general consensus that you seem to see and hear everywhere is that “Sugar is Sugar.” The Corn Grower’s Association, currently in the process of renaming High Fructose Corn Syrup to the harmless-sounding “Corn Sugar,” wants you to believe it. They are currently throwing a whole lot of money at that advertising campaign. However, the conclusion about sugar in the nutritional world is quite the opposite and has everything to do with quality.

The truth of the matter is that different sources of sugar have varying nutritional levels and our bodies respond to them in dramatically different ways. Likewise, the way a sugar is processed or not has a lot to do with its nutrition. The sugar cane plant goes through a staggering amount of processing, much of it chemical, to be turned into white sugar. The end result is an empty calorie, pure energy, with almost no trace of any nutrient. Lesser processed sugar cane products such as Rapadura, Sucanat, and Evaporated Cane Juice all contain trace minerals that make them easier for your body to digest. Refined carbohydrates, including white sugar, white flour and white rice, have all been stripped of their vitamins and minerals, which are necessary for digestion. Carbohydrates and starches are all converted into glucose in your body to be used for energy, and your body must pull from its own nutrient stores in order to process and use this energy if it isn’t naturally in the food source. Consuming too many processed carbohydrates and sugars on a regular basis can lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

This is why eating carbohydrates, including sugars, in their unprocessed whole food forms is vital. Various vitamins, minerals, and enzymes are present that allow the sugars to be gradually broken down in your body, slowly releasing glucose into your bloodstream. When you eat refined carbs, glucose enters your blood almost immediately, causing a spike in you blood sugar. After a dramatic rise in blood sugar, you almost always experience a crash. When you eat refined carbs regularly, a cycle of high and low blood sugar can begin that results in a roller coaster of intense cravings and addiction, as the body constantly looks for more sugar to come back from its lows. Eating excess sugar wreaks havoc on the body and mind, toying with your energy level, mood, and ability to judge hunger, among other things.

Whole, unprocessed carbohydrates – foods including whole grains, beans, fruits and sugar – on the other hand, take longer to digest and thus release sugar much more gradually into the bloodstream. This allows your body to maintain a balanced blood sugar level and gives you sustained energy hours after having eaten.

The wonderful news is that you can now have your candy and eat it too! Yes, said by a Health Counselor. Barbary Brix uses minimally processed sugars in their caramels, so they will not spike your blood sugar. Did I mention they are tantalizingly buttery and smooth?

One of the amazing sugars Barbary Brix uses, organic coconut palm sugar, is a very low glycemic load sugar (meaning a serving of it has very little effect on your blood sugar levels), full of an amazing array of trace vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other macro-nutrients. On top of that, it’s considered by some to be the most sustainably produced sugar available.

It is important to mention glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL), since they provide another way of talking about the blood sugar phenomenon I just explained. Glycemic index is a measure of how quickly carbohydrates are broken down in the body, releasing glucose into the bloodstream. Carbohydrates that break down quickly, rapidly releasing sugar into the bloodstream have a high GI, while those that break down more slowly, releasing glucose into the bloodstream gradually, have a low GI. Glycemic load (GL) also takes the quantity of sugar released into the bloodstream into account, and is thus considered a more useful measurement. For instance, carrots have a high GI, but in the amount you consume them, have a low GL.

Another sugar used in BBx’s caramels is organic brown rice syrup, a mildly sweet syrup derived from brown rice, which is also full of nutrients like magnesium, manganese, and zinc. The other sugar they use is a sustainably farmed and fair-trade certified organic evaporated cane juice. Although cane sugar is not considered to have a low glycemic load, BBx uses it in small amounts. They also get the highest quality possible, meaning it is relatively unprocessed, still containing essential nutrients for digestion, and organic.

Organic certification, which all of their ingredients have (except for the kosher salt), means that farms “integrating cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity” (http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/NOP). This means healthy practices for the environment, farm workers, and consumers. Win-win-win for organic. Taking the extra step, BBx also looks for fair-trade sources for their sugar and cocoa ingredients, where available. Fair-trade certification ensures a fair price for farmers and workers, another win. Talk about responsible candy-making: environmentally, socially, healthily. If you thought you’d never hear a Health Counselor utter the words “good candy,” think again, because here it is.

I don’t advocate eating lots of sugar in any form, however, I do advocate for living a happy life and for treating yourself and others well. These caramels are a melt-in-your mouth, sumptuous, velvety treat for those special times. Please enjoy – with the all the joy, of course. Savor your sweets.

Sources and additional reading:

http://www.sweet-tree.biz/coconutpalmsugarnutritional.html#Glycemic_Index_and_Glycemic_Load

http://www.sweet-tree.biz/What_is_Coconut_Sugar_.html

http://www.certifiedorganicevaporatedcanejuice.com/

http://www.brownricesyrups.com/

http://www.foodmarketexchange.com/datacenter/product/sugar/detail/dc_pi_sugar_03_02.htm

http://www.natural-healing-health.com/glycemicload.html

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400579/Confused-by-the-Glycemic-Index.html

About our guest blogger:

Alex Mart is a certified Health Counselor and member of the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. Her training with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition taught her hundreds of different dietary theories and life coaching methods, which she uses to determine each person’s unique path to health and fulfillment. She works with people searching for energy, confidence, and balance in their bodies and lives. One conversation can change your life: schedule your free initial consultation with Alex today. www.alexmarthealth.org

TAKE A POLL! Also, what people are saying about Barbary Brix caramel…

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Well, it’s official. People seem to love these little guys! We knew our family and friends wouldn’t all be lying to us about how yummy they are but now that this product is getting out there to friends-of-friends and, well, perfect strangers alike, it has been exciting to hear the overwhelmingly positive feedback! Here’s some of the things people have been saying:

“Yum! Now all other caramel is ruined for me forever…”
“Woah.” [Taster scans frantically for a place to sit then plops down.]
“My dad, who hates sweets, destroyed the entire bag before my mom could get ONE.”
“Your caramels make my heart sing.”
“The Distinguished Gentleman saves lives.” [From a diabetic person who used a bag to avert a blood sugar crash.]
“These are the best caramel candies I’ve ever tasted!”
“This is so good that if [REDACTED]s tasted like this, I’d become a lesbian.”
“These are dangerously good!”
“Huh…I thought I hated caramel. Guess I was wrong.”
“Your candy is habit-forming!”
Some of the adjectives we hear a lot are: soft, buttery, amazing, melty, delicious, creamy, orgasmic.
Some of the expletives we hear a lot are: wow, whoa, mmmm, holy $*!#.
We LOVE the feedback and love that people are enjoying our caramel! It is humbling and exciting and keeps us going, knowing we have something to offer that is satisfying and enjoyable but also is better-for-you than other similar candy and more eco-friendly to boot!
In terms of popularity, our Salty Dog has prevailed as the most popular but the Eligible Heiress and the Distinguished Gentleman aren’t doing too shabby in the rankings. The devotees of the Bold-Fashioned and Madam Moxie are die hard and loyal. What’s your favorite?
Moving on to other important topics, another thing we’ve been consistently hearing is a desire for a Variety Bag! Well, we’re defo working on it but your feedback is super duper valuable, so help us out! Go on and vote on what combinations you’d like to see us offer!
Hugs,
Sug