Caramel sauce - what to do with it?

My daughter came home with a large plastic packet of liquid caramel sauce. The story is she was hanging out with friends at Starbucks, and someone knew someone who worked there, and they gave them this sauce. (I don't want to know any more about this)
Anyway, it looks like it's about a quart of sauce - what can I do with it besides put it on vanilla ice cream? Any ideas about how I can use most of this up?

[ferret]

You'd use it the same way as canned whip cream. Squirt directly into your mouth.

[UTgal]

This is a recipe I received for a friend. They're divine.

Turtle Brownies

1 14 oz. jar caramel sauce
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 pkg German chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup melted butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Pan spray 9x13" pan.

Combine evap milk, cake mix, butter and walnuts. Stir until blended. Spread half the mixture in the pan. Bake for 6 minutes and remove from the oven.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over baked crust and pour the caramel over the top. Drop remaining cake mixture by teaspoonfuls over the top. Bake for another 16 minutes.

Cool in refrigerator about 30 minutes, then cut.

[laliz]

I saw this topic and I have leftover caramel Ice Cream Topping, so I was glad to read for ideas. Instead this became a morality issue ??????

I don't think so folks. Never worked in retail, but calling the manager didn't even occur to me ~~ I don't think we need to get up on our high horses so quickly without knowing any of the facts. geez. JMHO

Dip bananas in it, then in melted dark chocolate, then in roasted chopped walnuts and freeze. Also dip pretzles like this, minus freezing and nuts. Poach or roast pears in it. Make french toast and make sandwiches with caramel, chocolate, bananas and peanut butter, then stick the whole mess in the oven to melt and get oozy.

Fondue!

The first question I asked her was whether it was stolen, and she assured me it wasn't. YOu are both right to question that, but I know my kid.

No, of course it wasn't stolen. Starbucks has a policy of letting employees give away huge containers of caramel sauce out the back door to their friends.
Call the manager.

Perhaps it was out of date or part of a discontinued product.

Assuming it is judged to be ethically edible :-) ,
how about a tart apple pie w/ some caramel in the filling and then spooned over each slice?

Cut with fruit juice and spices for a fruit soup base.

Personally, I'd just get out a spoon and dig in, but that's just me. After I'd get over my bellyache I'd try:

- Homemade ice cream with caramel ribbons

- caramel milk shakes

- any kind of apple desserts, tarts/pies

Don't know if Starbuck's does that, but I have heard that it's policy at some fast food places to let employees walk out the front door with stuff from containers that were opened but not used up within the day or was otherwise expired. (e.g. Cousin of mine got really tired of McD's leftover food before his first week was over.) Since we have a very incomplete picture of the facts, it's worthwhile to remember that one is innocent until proven guilty.

Speaking of caramel, it might do well with some sort of apple or pear cake. Especially after some gentle doctoring with nutmeg and cinnamon.

Another possibility is to blend it with some unsweetened chocolate and heavy cream to make caramel chocolate truffles.

Well, you could start by telling the store manager that one of his employees is stealing food.

Much as I hate to say this but I think you need to have a conversation with your daughter about the dangers of receiving stolen goods. There are both legal and moral issues involved here.

Then maybe anonymously contact the store manager about possible employee theft.

I hope you don't really plan on using this stolen sauce? That would be a terrible message to send to your daughter about honesty and integrity.

I agree. Talk to daughter, call manager. But why waste the caramel sauce? That might be an equally bad message. Starbucks can't use it if returned. As far as uses, how about caramel apples? or pear cobbler or dumplings with c. sauce?

But your local Foodbank can probably use it.

[zombone]

A moral obligation to return $10 at the greatest cost of product to a multi-billion dollar corporation? The product would be thrown away. It's left the confines of the location and if opened should be considered contaminated.
Its too bad everyone was hung-up on the product in question possibly being stolen. I was really hoping to find out what to do with this "fudge" I made improperly turning out as caramel.

[SDgirl]

Right is right, and wrong is wrong. The wrongness of stealing has nothing to do with what was stolen and from whom.

Woriking in retail, I just have to add that there are several perfectly legitimate scenarios to account for free caramel sauce -- could be the seal was broken, which, when it happens in our store, means we don't sell it. Our buyers don't want it back, so we take it home. No stealing involved. Likewise when we have products past their expiration dates. Can't sell it, don't want to throw it away. No theft there either. The caramel could be a product that was used for a seasonal or promotional drink -- the promotion's over, the caramel is no longer needed, so the employees get to take it home. Don't jump to conclusions -- retail workers are not all thieves.

No, they are not all thieves, but I've worked enough retail and food service to get a pretty good idea when supplies are walking out the back door. Starbucks caramel sauce isn't packaged for retail, so a "broken seal" isn't relevant. It is still used, so being a seasonal item no longer used doesn't answer the question either.