One taste of The Ardent Homesteader’s Cara-Sel salted caramel sauce, and you might be tempted to eat it straight out of the jar. That’s something founder Kristin Nelson understands, which is why she suggests dipping pretzel sticks into it instead of a spoon.
Cara-Sel is a handcrafted, small-batch, salted caramel sauce produced in Newburgh and made with just five ingredients: organic sugar, cream, butter, sea salt, and vanilla.
Nelson’s quest for the perfect caramel sauce had her tweaking recipes until she got it just right. She went from gifting it to friends to selling it at her neighbor’s farm stand, and it took off from there.
Three growing boys and a working farm keep her busy, but she loves the freedom being an entrepreneur brings, as “it’s more flexible and great for the family.”
Besides mixing up every batch by hand (which meant 6,000 jars last year), she’s often experimenting in the kitchen, looking for the next great use for Cara-Sel.
It’s wonderful mixed into a batch of granola, swirled into a batch of brownies, or simply warmed up and served over your favorite ice cream.
You can find Nelson selling Cara-Sel at various events throughout the Hudson Valley and at Westchester retailers such as Bedford Gourmet, DeCicco & Sons (Pelham, Millwood, Ardsley), Mt. Kisco Seafood, Chappaqua Village Market, and the Katonah Reading Room.
Order more than one jar… yes, it’s that good!
