- March 5th, 2012
- 2 Comments
Burred in Vermont’s midsection amid the rolling puffs of tree coated hills and slated farms nestled into the woods, is a patchwork of goats that help create the creamiest, richest, and most tasty caramel (well techniclally, cajeta). A dream place, with massive, roaring kettles of sloshing goat’s milk, all of it’s sugars maillarding into sweet bliss – but we’re getting ahead of ourselves; it’s easy to do so when speaking about Fat Toad Farm.
All of the magic starts with happy goats. If you were a goat, you’d wish you were one of the adorable little ladies on their farm – lots of attention and love, wide nearby pastures to graze in, tasty and healthy grains, lots of sun and strong stock to get you in the mood to milk. From these jolly goats comes (not surprising) fantastic milk – to start the process, sugar is dissolved into a massive warming pot of goat’s milk, perking up the sweetness just enough but no where near ‘sugary.’ The not-so-soon-to-be caramel is infused with the likes of Fair Trade coffee beans or ultra-fine sticks of organic cinnamon, depending on the flavor – Original, Cinnamon, Coffee are the flavors we carry. The infusion process happens as the carmel is being created, steeping for up to six hours as the liquid is boiled off and we’re left with pure magic. From here a simple canning and sticking it’s ready to take home – or in our case, ready to ship to our door and put on our shelves.
There is just something about the flavor of this caramel that we couldn’t turn away from. It’s the perfect consistancy to add to ice cream – sure, but it’s great to add to a cup of coffee too, or spread some atop a cinnamon rolls – we can’t help but get carried away with different ways to use it, as well as with it’s tastiness. The goat’s milk adds depth we haven’t found in many other caramels, it provides a caramel flavor that seems to rest and change in delicious ways all over out tongue.
Pick up a jar from our shelf and see for yourself what happy goats, mastery, dedication, and whole lot of love for caramel.
I loved your cafe when I lived in Chicago and now that I live in Vermont I ADORE that you have found Fat Toad. How about a adult pop tart with apple filling and their vanilla bean caramel as a topping? I might be tempted to buy a second home in Chicago! 🙂