Need a caramel-centric dessert...

[momof3]

My MIL and I have an annual Valentine's Day Dessert party.
Last year's report http://www.chowhound.com/topics/37048...
We have a ton of chocolate things, fruit desserts, and a great cheesecake. I thought that one or two caramel desserts would round out the selections nicely.
Any ideas are very appriciated.
TIA
MO3

[aletnes]

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

Caramel Mousse Napoleon .. absolutely delicious and really impressive to set out. Not terribly hard if you know your way around a kitchen, but looks like restaurant food!

[Kane_TO]

Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream. To die for. If you have an ice cream maker.

David Lebovitz has a great recipe on his site (not to mention the mouth watering pictures!):
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives...

[baloney]

CH's Salted Caramel Ice Cream is also pretty great and simple to boot!

[marthadumptruck]

I second Mr. Lebovitz's recipe. I made this recipe on Saturday and my guests requested to take the leftovers home. It's very very good.

[momof3]

How would I serve ice cream at a dessert party though? It is buffett-help-yourself-style. Should I keep it in the ice cream maker's bowl?

[potterstreet]

millionaire's shortbread rocks - here's a version which uses sea salt - incredibly incredibly good.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/238232

also, in my opinion you cannot go wrong with sticky toffee pudding EVER> here's the recipe i use - has them begging for seconds.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

have fun, sounds like a great idea and i might have to do it next year.

[Candy]

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo... . This is a great recipe from Frank Stitt. Some of the people reviewing the recipe complained of having with the caramel pudding but they did not cook it long enough. I've made it many times with no problems at all.

[charlesbois]

tower of profiteroles with the caramel "net" drizzled all around them. Fill 'em with caramel flavored pastry cream.

[Bunnyfood]

This would be such a great party idea....people will think you're some kind of pastry deity...And the presentation would be great...Alright, I'm sold- I'm making this tonight-no party necessary!

[milklady]

I recently made a delicious carmamel pear tart. I made a shortbread crust, parbaked it, filled it with homemade caramel sauce, and arranaged raw, rice, peeled and sliced pears on top. I then baked it again, until the pears were cooked. It received raves. This could also work as a tartlet, if you have the little pans.

[momof3]

Do you have the recipe for your caramel sauce and shortbread crust? Sounds A-mazing!

[milklady]

Kind of embarassing, but functional.

Joy of Cooking's shortbread tart crust
Joy of Cooking's caramel sauce cockniage

It's just about putting them together in a new way...

[momof3]

Thanks for all your responses so far. They all sound great, I knew I could count on you :)
Queen B. I actually thought about doing little tarlets like that. Last year I used pre-made crispy tart shells, filled them w/nutella, and topped them with a toasted hazelnut. Its funny b/c people went crazy for them and they took they absolute least effort of all my desserts.

[chowser]

What about alfajores?

http://gosouthamerica.about.com/od/de...

[Emme]

loooove these... my peruvian best friend growing up always brought these to school, and they traded very highly, like half an alfajor for a bag of chips.

dulce de leche cheesecake

flan or creme caramel is one of my favorite simple and caramely desserts

[QueenB]

Caramel cake
Caramel pudding parfaits (caramel pudding, flavored whipped cream and some sort of crunchy stuff...toffee?)
Individual caramel tartlettes (phyllo baked into small cups and filled with caramel, a drizzle of chocolate and topped with a sprinkle of nuts)

[chef chicklet]

ice cream, dolce de leche that is.

[Leucadian]

Chocoflan is a Mexican favorite, with chocolate cake on the bottom, a layer of flan above that, and topped with caramel. It's easy to make, and spectacular to serve. There are lots of recipes out there, including mixes in Mexican markets. Here's one that's pretty close to mine. I think kids would like to make this too, because it's fun to pour the flan mix into the cake and see it sink. I'm sure you could make this into a smaller dessert, but typically it's pretty big.

http://armidacooks.blogspot.com/2006/...

[momof3]

Wow, that looks amazing!

[LJS]

Sticky toffee pudding? Dolce de leche?

[porceluna]

Ooo, I second the sticky toffee pudding suggestion! One of my friends makes it for every party she gives, by popular demand (not just request!). I believe she uses the recipe in Jamie's Dinners. Very rich, which in my opinion makes it just right for a Vday dessert party (an idea btw which I may have to steal for next year!)