The Extra Helping

Two ways with whey. A sweet syrup for iced coffee or a sticky topping for the ultimate chocolate brownie

Making ricotta to go with seasonal veg crudités has left me with a lot of whey. Always looking for new wheys (/!) to use it. I started making whey caramel back when I worked at The Creameries to use up leftover whey from our cheese making and yoghurt hanging. It is simple to do but requires you to keep an eye on it near the end of the reducing stage so it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan and burn.

Sweet sticky and pleasingly lactic. The smell when you are reducing it will puzzle you. Cheesy but sweet? What is that? People often ask when we are boiling it at Isca.

Whey caramel

1 litre whey

200g sugar

50g butter

2 tsp sea salt

Put the whey in a wide based pan and bring to the boil. Reduce by half stirring occasionally to stop the milk solids from burning on the bottom the pan, when it has come done add the sugar and reduce by half again until you get a nice smooth sticky sauce, it should have deepened in colour, keep going if it still looks translucent, remove from the heat and stir in the butter, put it back on the heat and warm gently whilst whisking to bring it all together. If you like salted caramel add the sea salt and stir through. It will keep in the fridge in an airtight tub for at least a month.

Another way with whey caramel. A sweet one is to use the sauce as an ice cream topping, I have tried freezing it and using it as a granita too or use it in a cocktail or an iced coffee for a sugary hit. The most obvious and immediately rewarding route is to use it to top your brownie.

A while ago I was on a quest for a few months to crack the best gluten free brownie recipe I could. Having been very taken with the salted caramel brownie recipe from The Smitten Kitchen blog I set about making my own version. The whey caramel sits very well within. The secret I think is using the best quality chocolate you can and buckwheat flour if you want to make it gluten free.