By now you’ve perhaps all heard of my friend Kathy. She’s the one that when she tells me that she’s found a cool idea for NQN I listen. She’s Australian but lives in the US now with her American husband and somehow, she always finds the coolest things to make. She knows and shares my prediliction for bacon, that wonderful salty smoked meat and when she saw my bacon jam she found me the most fabulous counterpart for it-Salted Bacon Caramels!
As usual I decided to fiddle with this recipe a little and instead of corn syrup which I’m told is evil stuff and is hard to obtain here, I used pure maple syrup and honey. I accidentally set the heat on a fraction too high and it spat at me when I stirred it but like an addict I kept stirring for a while before getting the ice pack out so be careful. I wouldn’t set it higher than the halfway point (or 6/10 maximum) on your stovetop.
Oooh lovely bacon!
It took a while to set and since it was so hot I gave it a little help by putting it in the fridge (and I don’t think it hurts putting it in the fridge with all of that bacon in it). I don’t think getting food poisoning is a particularly good idea and it’s so unglamorous! I oiled the knife and cut it into 64 pieces and popped a corner piece in my mouth. Oh it was good, so damn good I had thought I had a semi religious blathering moment and wondered why so many thousands of years after this so-called civilisation had it taken so long to combine bacon and caramel into one super candy. In truth I preferred the pieces that were more lightly salted over the heavily salted pieces but that’s because I do happen to love bacon and maple syrup with pancakes as I find the saltiness from the bacon gives it enough saltiness.
It was time consuming wrapping the little buggers up though and this is where an assembly line of elves would certainly aid in this endeavour. In fact the wrapping took up more time than making the caramels. But my reward of course was seeing the expressions on Mr NQN’s and my friend’s faces when they popped a little bacon caramel in their mouths. You know the look: contented murmuring at the smooth sweetness of honey and maple, a surprise when they discovered the salty bacon pieces and then a nodding in agreement when they realised that the bacon was not a rogue salty interloper but a long lost friend.
So tell me Dear Reader, what is the oddest flavour combination you have heard of, made or tried?
Salted Bacon Honey Maple Caramels
- 1x 395ml tin sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup Maple syrup
- 1/2 cup honey
- 4 tablespoons/50grams butter
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 300grams middle bacon
- smoked sea salt
- wax paper and cellophane to wrap
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F and line a baking tray with bacon rashers. I cooked extra as pictured. Bake for 20 minutes until crisp. Remove from oven and cool and then crumble into tiny pieces and set aside.
2. Line a square baking tin with foil and oil it well. In a large, deep, heavy non-reactive saucepan, heat the condensed milk, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, butter and cream over medium heat stirring often until the mixture reaches 245F degrees on the candy thermometer you have clamped to the inside of your pot. Do not turn too high or it will spit at you (believe me, I am nursing an ice pack as I have first hand knowledge of this). When it has reached temp, remove it from heat and let it rest until it stops bubbling. Stir in the crumbled bacon. Pour it into the baking dish.
3. After five minutes, sprinkle the surface liberally with smoked sea salt. It takes a few hours to cool and set. When it has cooled completely, cut it into 64 squares and wrap in waxed paper and cellophane.
I wrapped these first in wax paper and then cellophane (below)
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81 Comments | Add your own
Just the other day I was reminiscing about one of my favorite childhood breakfasts — a pancake “sandwich” with peanut butter and turkey bacon. The sweet/salty/smoky flavor combo in this candy sounds fantastic, Lorraine!
OMG you are killing me! What a great recipe…hits all the food bases– Sweet salty fat smokey…perfect. Great recipe
Lorraine, this is sure a very interesting candy…with bacon, I’d love to try it, since I always like sweet and salty taste together
all my friends who don’t ‘get’ bacon with maple syrup would look at this in utter confusion ;p
Those birds are sweet
That’s such a great idea! I’m dying to try adding bacon to sweets!
A fantastic combo that I haven’t yet had the chance to test!
Cheers,
Rosa
Wow what an interesting combination1 Its funny how some flavours work out really well together. My father-in-law likes sausage and cream sandwiches…now that is just strange.
I always order a short stack of pancakes with a side of bacon and extra maple syrup when we visit pancakes on the rocks- love it!!!
Oh, you know this is just my style after my Pecan Maple Bacon Pancakes!!!
Mmmm I want one of those caramels so bad. Caramel and I do NOT typically get along, but I may have to give it another shot!!
Is there anything better than bacon? Methinks not.
Mmm this only reinforces the idea that everything is better when you add bacon! Though I’m pretty scared of the angry spitting bacon, ouch!
Okay, I don’t even LIKE bacon and I’m intrigued… and yes, I know that bacon ice cream was the thing at the Iron Chef Cookoff last year. And, I don’t follow trends.
So thank you for pulling me back to reality. Saltiness on top of, well, saltiness!
Are these the caramels that Adrien Brody’s family spent their last dinero on in ‘The Pianist’? They look that good!
I completely agree that the best thing about having something of the bacon-in-sweets ilk on hand is giving it to friends and family and making them believers (and this is from someone who doesn’t actually like bacon much).
I just recently distributed some bacon milk chocolate to friends, and most loved it, though one held out that it was too “weird”.
Most of my tried odd combinations haven been in chocolate – the bacon chocolate, a dark chocolate with mushrooms, plantain chips in chocolate… though I did just try putting butter popcorn on a cold rice pudding(America is getting to me, obviously), and it wasn’t half bad!
Oooh they look so yummy!
I am a great fan of bacon.
I’m also a great fan of chocolate!
Somehow it came to surface one day, myself and a friend had seen it somewhere and tried it. Crispy bacon and chocolate sauce.
These days it’s becoming more…accepted I think. Lol. But alot of people still think it’s strange. I think it’s delicious!
wow… i have to give this a go….
I’m not usually one to combine unusual flavours for the sake of it. Although, somehow your bacon caramels have me interested!
Making caramel – or anything that requires an oven/stovetop is v committed in this weather so I take my hat off to you!! (or I would if I could bear to be wearing anything other than the bare minimum..). They look v tasty though, and anything that harks back to pancakes with maple syrup and bacon is a winner in my view!
Beautiful wrapping! I’m glad the splatter of oil didn’t deter you, because these look & sound delicious!
The thought of bacon reminded be of the first recipe in Year 7 cooking class (circa mid-80s) – peanut butter, bacon and banana on a toasted muffin – an odd but somewhat appealing combination!
I suspect my bacon loving husband would adore these! But I might need a bit more convincing!
How about peanut butter and chopped dill pickle sandwiches? Loved those as a kid growing up in Kentucky! How are the burns healing? Ah, the price we pay for culinary perfection……
wow – Ive never tried anything sweet with bacon before. The weirdest I get is cheese and corn toasted sandwiches!
Bacon and little silver birds!! How precious!
Yummo – these sound great! I agree that wrapping these things is a pain in the a#*e – I wrapped cramels for a DB challenge and was thoroughly over it by the time I’d finished.
Weirdest flavour combo – I don’t think it’s odd, but friends find my combination of apricot jam and cheddar cheese on a sultana bun quite gross.
My mouth is watering, if these are half as good as your bacon jam recipe, well I’ll be making them this weekend.
Wow what beautiful presentation and fotos!!!! I always love a touch of pink if I can slip it in!:))
Yum! I think your caramels would make a perfect appetizer to a grand meal. The salty-sweetness would be great for whetting appetites.
(Oh, those silver birds are pretty! <3)
Oh my goodness, girl! You’ve really outdone yourself!
These sound absolutely divine and I cannot wait to try them!!!!
I confess that this sort of flavour combination excites me and horrifies me – I love seeing weird combinations but I think that at least sweet should be meat free for vegetarians like myself – but despite myself I am amazed at this article with lots of sweet uses for bacon – have you seen it http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120994007
What a great idea – I love bacon and maple syrup together – it is an amazing combination. My kids will be very excited when I try this recipe out!
I’m kind of surprised you didn’t go the additional mile and cover them in dark chocolate or nuts ;o)
Wow, this recipe is just surreal. It’s either we eat way too much salty or sweet foods. But the combination of both is just perfect. Love the presentation too.
I printed out a similar recipe from my web travels a while ago – the bacon + caramel combo certainly *screams out* to be made! I love how you’ve wrapped them, too – looks delicate but packs a punch. PS: I’ve easily substituted glucose syrup for light corn syrup; glucose syrup is available at the supermarket.
Oh bacon and maple syrup – a match made in heaven! I just got a candy thermometer for Christmas so I think I might be breaking it out of it’s packaging to make this hehe
These sound fantastic. My version will require less work because there will be no need for all that wrapping and tying because my wife and I will eat them all in one day. BTW, you are very lucky corn syrup is hard to get in Australia.
Thanks for another great recipe.
OK, that’s on next weeks cooking list – sounds devine – bacon and maple anything is delish. Weirdest combination we’ve done is Ouso and Cabbage and Mutton sausages! They were great in flavor as well as texture. mmm love to experiment. worst sausage we ever tried: brandy fruit with beef. only did them once!
Omg! You never cease to amaze me…what a brilliant idea and I’m sure it’s a hit at parties!
Salty caramels are my favorite. I can only imagine with bacon would be better. I make salty caramel cupcakes, top with crushed peanuts. Some bacon crumbles either in the cake or on top would be amazing.
Sounds good to me. Although I haven’t been feeling the meat much lately, this sounds pretty darn good =D.
Avocado and chocolate…still sounds so odd. But everything about bacon, maple and brown sugar sounds like a great match. Nothing strange there!
Hi … where do I get Smoked Sea salt … sounds great
I dont know if I could get myself to use bacon with caramel. It took a while for me to get used to salted caramel. Hmm maybe I will try this without the bacon. Looks so pretty. That bird is so cute.
Lorraine, What a great idea. I’m loving this flavour of caramel. It’s very Heston Blumenthal….
You always come up with something creative!
Hmmm… Ok. I need to do this. can I use smoked bacon instead?
Nom Nom!! I’m loving the challenge of that!
My occasional breakfast treat at a local cafe … brioche with piles of bacon and smothered in maple syrup!
Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant Lorraine!!! Omg I want to reach into my computer and grab a handful and run away with them!
All I can say is: wow!
These look beautiful.
This recipe makes my mouth water as much as your photos do. I cannot chew bacon or caramel as I have severe chewing problems, but this sounds great. Just to take a little taste would satisfy me. My Mom was an innovative cook at home and she would fry 1/2 a piece of bacon, flip it and pour pancake batter over it then flip the pancake and cook it the rest of the way, then maple syrup on top. Yummy.
So love bacon and real maple syrup with pancakes, and now you’ve added in caramel – is there a more perfect food? Oh wait, how about wrapping an apple pancake or a thin crepe around the bacon caramel and maybe a few seconds in the microwave…mmmmm! I like ham sanwiches made with butter and marmelade or honey, once I made a sandwich out of fresh apple, cheddar and honey, that was lovely, not weird at all!
This recipe makes my mouth water as much as your photos do. I cannot chew bacon or caramel as I have severe chewing problems, but this sounds great. Just to take a little taste would satisfy me. My Mom was an innovative cook at home and she would fry 1/2 a piece of bacon, flip it and pour pancake batter over it then flip the pancake and cook it the rest of the way, then maple syrup on top.
Bacon is the main reason why I could never go completely vegetarian. Halloumi may be vegetarian bacon but I’m not sure it would be a good substitute in this case
I can’t think of any odd combination that I have had, other than bacon and chipotle chili chocolate but that is no longer odd. My husband likes blackcurrant cordial in milk which is not only odd but completely gross – the milk curdles!
i want to get my hands on one of these! i can’t quite imagine what bacon and caramel will taste like but given I like both, i think it would work
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I’m a big fan of the pancake/bacon/maple syrup combo, so I just can imagine how amazing these would be. Have bookmarked this to try!
Yummy……….Rockpool serves salted caramels with coffee and petit fours and as we were too full from dinner last Saturday night they kindly packed some for us. The next day I looked at them and decided to have one, before long they were all gone and I was longing for more. So, considering I love bacon , I think I would like your Salted bacon honey maple syrup caramels very much Lorraine lol
I don’t usually crave weird combinations of food , not even when I was pregnant but I will try just about anything.
Where did you get those cute birds?
Note to Kylie, I saw some smoked sea salt in Peters of Kensington today. Hope that helps if you live in NSW.
YUM!!! The weirdest thing was cigar and chocolate truffles. NASTY!
Haha, of course you would make these! Not that I think they are a bad thing
I used to work at Maccas in my high school days, and would have a girl come in to order fries and a sundae to eat together. A strange mix of flavours, textures and temperatures.
oh me. this is like all my favorite things about breakfast wrapped up in candy form. heaven…i’m in heaven.
This candy sounds fabulous. I have got to try and make them.
What a fun treat and a delicious salty-sweet combination!
OMG, this is the answer to my dreams! I can’t believe that I’m actually about to spend my last swedish kronas this month on maple syrup and bacon. But I will, I assure you!
These sound sort of brilliant but also sort of disgusting – hilarious idea!
Wow!! Goodbye New Year’s resolution!
my 6 year old daughter would love these, a few days ago she wrote a list titled “why I LOVE bacon”!
Yum! What’s there to not like about bacon? Bacon surprises in a caramel? Sounds sooo good!
you have to have a look at the best bacon cookbook “Everything Tastes Better With Bacon” Sara Perry. Warm salad of Bacon,onion and maple syrup- OOOOH yeh
Seriously? I don’t find this flavor combo so odd – I mean it only takes luscious, fabulous salted caramels to a higher level, right? I would love to try one – or two. And thanks for solving my problem about lack of corn syrup which I cannot get in France.
And an odd flavor combo? I’d have to give that a think over…
Um. Like. YUMMMMMM!!!!
Hi Faith-Ooh yes this might be quite similar to that!
Hi deana-Hehe thankyou! Yes all the major food groups covered too!
Hi Juliana-Cool!
It’s perfect if you like sweet and salty! 
Hi Fiona-Don’t worry about them -more for you really!
Hi pigpigscorner-This one is so good!
I’d love to know what you think of it!
Hi Rosa-I hope you do one day!
Hi Lisa-I know it’s funny about that isn’t it! Wow, now that’s an unusual combination!
As in whipped cream?
Hi sandra-Great idea I have to say! I must do that next time
Hi Julie-I know! I saw yours and LOLd-great minds think alike!
Hi Highlands Foodie-Absolutely not
Hi Steph-I agree! What’s not to love huh?
Yes that was my fault, I turned it up too high! 
Hi Sortachef-Hehe I’d love to try that!
Hehe you know it might have been very similar! 
Hi Hannah-Absolutely, I’m on a bacon crusade or something
There’s always one though isn’t there! Dark chocolate with mushrooms has got to be a new one 
Haha I love the sound of these combos! 
Hi April-I agree, bacon is everywhere nowadays! I guess some are never going to get it but that’s ok. That means more for us
Hi kelly-Absolutely!
Hi john-I promise you this is not one of those gratuitous moments of food mingling, it’s good
Hi Claire-Yes the weather wasn’t great for a hot stove but I was so intrigued
Yes it’s like a portable bite sized version of it! 
Hi Betty-Thankyou Betty!
Hehe I was so undeterred it was a bit scary 
Hi Ange-Oh wow your teacher was ahead of their time!
Hi Renee-Hehe I think he would! Perhaps a taste of them could change your mind?
Hi Leisa-Hehe oh wow, now that’s one that I haven’t heard of! They’re healing well thankyou! Thankfully they weren’t too bad
Hi Sarah-Hey those sound great!
Hi Blond Duck-Why thankyou Duckie!
Hi Cakelaw-Oh god yes I remember those! I skipped that bit because I couldn’t be bothered
Oh no that’s great! I love jam and cheddar cheese (toasted with the cheese melted too please 
)
Hi leslee-Hehe wonderful! If you make it plmk what you think of it!
Hi zurin-Thankyou so much! You are so sweet
HI Midge-Ahh this is true, up there for thinking of these things!
Thankyou! I have a bit of a bird obsession 
Hi Krista-Why thankyou so much!
Hi Johanna-Bacon is probably the one food that stops people from becoming vegetarian
I can’t believe people can resist the smell as I can’t! 
Thanks for the link it’s great stuff!
Hi Alphia-Me too! It’s so good isn’t it! Fabulous, I hope they like it!
HI Amaya-Now that would have been going overboard
Hi Divina-Absolutely, I love the combination of the two! Thankyou!
Hi Belle-Yes and now that you have a sugar thermometer you can!
Yep that’s true although I really wanted the flavour from the maple and honey for this 
Hi Jacq-Aren’t they just!
Oh what a great gift, have fun with it! I love mine 
Hi leekfixer-Haha now that’s the spirit!
Yes I’ve heard corn syrup is particularly nasty stuff! You’re welcome! 
Hi Sandy-Fabulous! I’d love to know what you think of it!
Oh my brandy fruit and beef, now that’s an interesting one! 
Hi Chefspiration-Aww Alex you are so sweet!
Hi Angela-Yum! I like the idea of adding crushed peanuts!
Hi Lauren-Hehe they’re only small bits so perhaps that’s not too bad?
Hi The Duo Dishes-Haha I don’t mind that combo
Yep it’s all in a breakfast!
Hi Kylie-You can buy it from most stockists that stock Maldon salt (although it’s a more speciality item
)
Hi Katherine-No you’ll be fine!
I promise!
Hi Julia-Thankyou! Hehe why that’s the ultimate compliment isn’t it!
Hi penny-Absolutely!
Hi Liss-I’ve got some to bring to you!
Hi Carol-Oh my, now that’s my kind of breakfast!
HI Trisha-Thankyou! I wish I could send you some!
Hi Heavenly Housewife-Thanks so much darling!
Hi Darlene-Oh no what a shame! Oh that is a great idea, I like it!
Hi Moya-Hehe I don’t think so!
Oooh hang on, you might have something there! 
I don’t think they’re weird combos, they sound rather delightful in fact! 
Hi Amy-I know, me too! It’s the smell that gets me. So moreish! Hehe I’ve had that and I don’t mind it I must admit!
Hi Panda-it does amazingly!
Hi Nomes-lol!
Hi Agnes-Absolutely, if you’re a lover of that I think you’ll like this
Hi matilda-Aww that’s lovely of them!
Isn’t that always the way, that salty and sweet combo is so moreish! I bought them from http://www.pinkfrosting.com.au! 
Hi matilda-Ahh this is true, they have it!
Thanks Matilda!
Hi Bethie-Cigar? Wow! Now that’s a first!
Hi Conor-Haha don’t tell me I have a reputation?
You know to this day I haven’t tried that combo but I should! 
Hi grace-I know, shall we rename it the breakfast lolly?
Hi Lea Ann-Thankyou so much! That would be so cool!
Hi 5 Star Foodie-Thanks very much Natasha!
Hi Margit-Oh fabulous, I’d love to know what you think of it!
Hi Gourmet Chick-Haha not disgusting once you try it!
Hi Kirstin-Haha it’s a bit like that isn’t it!
Hi Carrie-Aww she sounds just like the kind of daughter I’d love to have!
Hi Forager-hehe that’s exactly how I feel!
Hi donnalee99-Oh my god, yes please I’m going to look that up right now!
Hi Jamie-Yes when you think about it, it’s not so strange is it? I mean Bethie’s cigar and chocolate above must be stranger no?
No problems, it’s supposed to be terrible stuff anyway! 
Hi oakley-Haha why thankyou!
OMG, I so have to make this asap!
hi just use glucose instead of corn syurp.Its in the baking isle of supermarket
We are going to try to make this as wedding favors for my friend/boss. She loves salted caramel. He loves bacon. Perfect marriage! Heehee.
I’m going to do a trial run tomorrow as treats for Super Bowl party. I’m along the same line with Amaya (Comment #31) about the chocolate. So I’m going to try dipping half in dark chocolate and see how it goes.
these are AMAZING!!! I have made multiple batches since reading the recipe. I have tried peppered bacon (which did not make that much of a difference) and then i tried adding a palm full of Chipotle powder when I stirred in the bacon—even better (if you like spicy things). I get weird looks from people before they try them, but after a taste they are hooked. Thanks for the GREAT recipe–it have become a holiday staple in my house
Oh my good god, I just made this and it’s gorgeous!!! I don’t want my boyfriend to wake up – I don’t want to share!!
Strangest food combo I saw down here in Texas is a fudge made with Velveeta (processed cheese). My favorite strange food to make is a toffee candy with saltine crackers. Will definitely try these caramels – yum!
Strangest food I make is a toffee with saltiness crackers. Will definitely try these caramels! Yum!
I wonder if it needs an extra binder to hold it together better?
YUM…these look incredible. Sending hubby to the store for the ingredients tonight!
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