When it comes to cooking the caramel, as ever, I recommendnot rushing it. Let the caramel take its sweet time and turn a beautifulshade of amber. And for this, I have a culinary analogy. I think of caramel as I would a steak. It can be cooked to varying degrees: To whip up a butterscotch sauce, the process is fairly similar to that of caramel, the only difference being the type of sugar you used. Butterscotch uses brown sugar, rather than the caster or granulated sugar used in caramel. Is caramel easy to make?

I went for a plain digestive biscuit base for this one, but you can easily make it chocolatey by adding in 25g of cocoa powder but I wanted plain. It’s best to blitz the biscuits to a really fine crumb, then add the butter, and press down firmly into your 8″ springform cake tin for best results. Before we take a look at what caramel is, it’s important to dip into the rich history of this lavish indulgence. The history surrounding caramel is certainly not straight-forward: some believe that the Arabs were the first to discover caramel around 1000AD in the form of “kurat al milh” or “sweet ball of salt”, which was allegedly made by crystallising sugar in boiling water to achieve a hard and crunchy sort of sweet. This deliciously sweet recipe is one of those ones that would be the perfect showstopper on the easter table for dessert, or even if you are a chocolate and caramel fan… it is insane. Easter baking

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For the type of caramel which is velvety and creamy, additional ingredients need to be added. Cream and butter are often added to create a creamier consistency, preventing the caramel from turning into a frangible substance. Although it is optional, some recipes also call for the addition of salt to cut through the sweetness, but if you’re not a fan of salted caramel then feel free to leave this out, or only use a delicate sprinkling. In need of some positivity? Get delicious recipe ideas, uplifting lifestyle news, and fashion and beauty tips. Make the most of your time at home and enjoy Good Housekeeping delivered directly to your door every month!

For this Chocolate Caramel Spread, I recommend cooking the caramel to between medium and medium-well done (aka mid-dark amber). Keep your eye on the pan and do not let the caramel get too dark, else the spread will display unpleasant bitter notes when eaten. Often people ask how I drizzle my ‘drizzle’s on and I use simple small disposable piping bags and its that simple. The Tala disposable piping bagsare PERFECT for all things drizzle and for small amounts. You just need to snip the end off and then its perfect. You can of course use a spoon, but I like my drizzles neat and easily done! I hope you love this one! With nearly 90% less sugar and over 3 times the protein of your favourite, everyday chocolate spread brands, Grenade's gorgeous Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Carb Killa Spread is a smooth, spreadable, decadent protein-delight! Butterscotch has a darker colour and also imparts a rich, subtly fruit flavour, similar to that of molasses. At Hotel Chocolat, we just can’t get enough of caramel, which is why we’ve dipped into the caramel world to find out more about this sweet treat.

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If you feel like going the whole hog, add some extra salt to the recipe to turn the whole batch into Chocolate Salted Caramel Spread