Katie Das just couldn't get rid of her sweet tooth. After working for Kraft and studying business in grad school, she and her husband opened their own business - Das Foods - which makes handmade caramels out of a nondescript warehouse in Wauconda.
"I loved chocolate but I also don't like the fact that it's very high in fat and carmels are sort of a sweet treat that is not so high in fat, just as satisfying and also can be quite exciting as well," said Katie Das, Das Foods.
Her caramels begin by heating cream, sugar, rice syrup, honey and butter in a small copper kettle. High-end salt balances the sweetness.
"We use French, hand harvested sea salt from ground, and that salt if very flaky and it's not very metallic-y and its hand harvested, beautiful salt. Works very well to balance out the sweetness of the caramel," said Das.
Once the proper temperature is reached, the hot liquid is poured out onto a cooling table, rapidly lowering the temperature, slightly hardening it. After about 30 minutes, the caramels are cut into long, rectangular strips. They're carefully fed into an antique cutting machine, which quickly portions and wraps them up, making them ready for packaging and shipment.
She currently offers seven flavors, but while we were there, she was working on a new one: chopped pecans and a little chipotle syrup gave the caramel a subtle note of heat and crunch.
"Any kind of spices, exotic spices work extremely well, bring some unexpected sides to the caramel that you otherwise wouldn't see," said Das.
Other great flavors include lemon and honey, chai latte or ginger and pistachio.
Das says by keeping production small, she can alter flavors and make changes much quicker than the big, industrial players.
"Our caramels are very quirky but they are also made with a lot of attention to detail, and the way to get there is to make it on a small scale," said Das.
While retail locations carry mostly caramels, if you shop on the company's Web site, you'll also find some high-end, gourmet salts as well.
Das Caramels
www.dasfoods.com
Available at:
Whole Foods
3300 N. Ashland
773.244.4200
3640 N. Halsted St.
773.472.0400
30 West Huron St.
312.932.9600
7245 Lake St., River Forest
708.366.1045
760 Waukegan Road, Deerfield
847.444.1900
Binny's
213 W. Grand Ave.
312.332.0012
3000 N. Clark
773.935.9400
670 Roosevelt Rd., Glen Ellyn
630.545.2550
1950 Lincoln Highway, St. Charles
630.377.1671
Foodstuffs
2106 Central St., Evanston
847.328.7704
1456 Waukegan Rd., Glenview
847.832.9999
Sam's Wine
1720 North Marcey St.
312.664.4394
2010 Butterfield Rd. , Downers Grove
630.705.9463
Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea
3123 N. Broadway St.
773-348-8058
53 West Jackson Blvd.
312.253.0594
The Goddess & the Grocer
25 East Delaware Place
312.896.2600
1646 N Damen Ave.
773.342.3200
Provenance
2528 N. California Ave.
773.384.0699
2312 W. Leland Ave.
773.784.2314
City Olive
5408 North Clark St.
773.878.5408
Paulina Market
3501 N. Lincoln Ave.
773.248.6272
Pastoral Cheese & Wine
2945 N. Broadway
800.721.4781
Link's Sweet Bean
1141 Greanleaf Ave, Wilmette
847.920.9260
Bottle Shop
1138 Central Avenue, Wilmette
847.256.7777
Schaefer's Wines, Foods & Spirits
9965 Gross Point Rd., Skokie
847.677.9463
The Village Market
24 East Scranton Ave., Lake Bluff
847.234.1507
Moveable Feast
321 Franklin St., Geneva
630.845.3287
