People have gotten excited about our handmade Gruyere Cheese Caramels.  We’re currently offering small batch gift wrapped blocks of cheese caramel for Valentine’s Day pick up or drop off in the NYC area. You can place an order here!

Currently, we sell the cheese caramel as a block, and we treat it like naturally made cheese. When purchased, you store it in the fridge for the longest shelf life, and bring it out to soften and come to room temperature before serving.  We place it on a board with a knife to be enjoyed as a tantalizing, rich, deep flavor bomb.  Culture magazine outlined the process of producing and tasting the caramel in their article Gruyere Cheese Caramels.  “You have just blown my world,” is among the variety of enthusiastic responses we receive after people take a bite. So, needless to say, this is a great product to bring out for that special cocktail party where you want to impress your friends and family.

We are also looking into creating a cheese caramel sauce, but currently, I often melt down a block of the caramel with a few tablespoons of cream, and drizzle it over anything and everything. Berries, apples, fluffy pretzels, pie, and pancakes to name a few drizzling avenues.

Below are some notes of our tasting journey with the caramel.

Cheese Caramel, Nuts, Dried Fruit, and Herbs

Nuts provide an excellent vehicle for the cheese caramel.  In fact, I was so inspired by the nut and herb combination that I am going to be making an herbaceous cheese caramel nut brittle this Saturday for a Chef Showdown event with Komeeda.  The rich density of the nuts stand up to the deep flavors of the cheese caramel, and the bright, zesty, green flavors of the herbs add dimension. The dried apricot provides a different dynamic of sweetness that needs the herb and the body of a robust, slightly bitter nut, in order to have a satisfying mouth-feel with the cheese caramel.  I recommend all of the below combinations.

• Chestnut + Hazelnut + Rosemary
• Brazil Nuts + Apricot
• Almond + Chestnut+ Thyme
• Pecan + Cranberry + Rosemary
• Walnut + Rosemary

Cheese Caramel + Beverages

We paired coffee, beer, and red wine with the cheese caramel. The coffee and the beer were absolutely stunning with the cheese caramel on all occasions.  The Chianti red wine was a little more temperamental. Some combinations of nuts and caramel were too tannic. Here are some combinations we tested:

• IPA Beer + Bronx Baking Co Fluffy Pretzels drizzled with Cheese Caramel: 9/10 rating.
• IPA Beer + Pumpkin Mousse + Thyme + Cheese Caramel: 8/10 rating.
• Darker beer may be even more tasty.
• Coffee + Chestnut, Hazelnut, Rosemary + Cheese Caramel: 9/10 rating.
• Wine+ Berries drizzled with Cheese Caramel: 9/10 rating.
• Wine + Almond + Chestnut + Cranberry + Rosemary + Cheese Caramel: 5/10 rating.
•  Remove almond next time due to its tannic qualities. Switch to Hazelnut.

Pumpkin, Squash + Cheese Caramel

This is a pairing that makes sense due to two factors. 1) Pumpkin cheese cake is delicious 2) Caramel sauce is often served with pumpkin mousse.  I enjoyed trying both a mousse and a wedge of kabocha squash with the cheese caramel. The mousse was a great pairing for drizzling the cheese caramel, and the kabocha had a vegetal kick which offset the natural sweetness of the squash and caramel combination.

Berries + Drizzled Cheese Caramel

This was a grand slam dunk of a combination.  The cheese caramel can really be used in the same way as a chocolate pairing.  It was a winning combination with both strawberries and raspberries.

Bronx Baking Co Pretzels + Drizzled Cheese Caramel

The Bronx Baking Co Pretzels are already phenomenal.  Since pretzels can be served with beer cheese, it made perfect sense that they would pair well with the drizzled cheese caramel sauce.  Since both the pretzel and the cheese caramel are nicely salted, we agreed we would reduce the additional flake salt we sprinkled on top.

Apples + Cheese Caramel