And now for something completely different: Salted Duck Fat Caramels from Laura at the beautiful blog Tide and Thyme. Thanks for sharing, Laura! Go have a look at what she’s up to, but first cast your eyes over this tiny miracle.

Ingredients

1 cup heavy cream
5 tablespoons duck fat, chilled
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
3 tsp sea salt

Preparation

1. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, then lightly butter the parchment.

2. Bring cream, duck fat, vanilla, and 1 tsp salt to a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and set aside.

3. Boil sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil, without stirring but gently swirling pan, until mixture is a light golden caramel.

4. Carefully stir cream mixture into the caramel (mixture will bubble up) and simmer, stirring frequently, until caramel registers 248 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Pour into baking pan and cool 45 minutes. Cut into 1-inch pieces with a buttered knife. Top each piece with a small pinch of salt, and wrap each piece in a 4-inch square of wax paper, twisting 2 ends to close.