Salted Caramel EVERYTHING!

It seems to be all the rage these days: sweet + salty. Caramels sprinkled with fleur de sel, chocolate truffles topped with pink Himalayan salt, and now cupcakes! I made these for an order last week--a brown sugar-based cake with a Swiss meringue buttercream and caramel swirl frosting. I topped them with traditional Kraft caramels and a sprinkle of fleur de sel. Although I cannot give up this treasured Pomegranate recipe, you can order them here for delivery in Chicago and the greater metropolitan area. But because I don't want to be a stingy blogger, I came up with the following libation to accompany your total salted caramel experience. In a perfect world, you'd end your Valentine's Day dinner with one of each (cupcake and martini), but I won't be offended if I don't get that immediate phone call for an order of the cupcakes. ;-) If you do try the martini, let me know what you think. My foray into the food arts began with bartending school several years ago, followed by weekend work bartending with a big catering company in Boston. I'd like to think that's what started it all, and to this day, I still like pausing to concoct a good fun drink. Hopefully, some day, you can indulge in both the cupcake and drink at Pomegranate Sweets & Savories!

Salted Caramel Martini

1.5 oz vanilla vodka
1.5 oz Cask & Cream Caramel Sensations liqueur (or Bailey's with a Hint of Caramel)
1 oz milk or half-n-half
Turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw)
Coarse sea salt

Combine equal parts of the salt and sugar in a shallow bowl or plate. Coat the rim of a martini glass with the salt-sugar mixture. In a martini shaker with ice, combine vodka, caramel liqueur, and milk or half-n-half and shake well. Strain into martini glass and drink up! Serves 1.