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My family loved these caramel and ganache wafer bars. They definitely exceeded our expectations. I made them upon my daughter's request; she loves soft caramel and wanted a caramel dessert for New Year's. I wanted to make something unique and interesting yet not overly complicated. That's how these bars were born.

They were an instant hit. I can see why. The caramel is of true artisanal quality, silky smooth, soft, and chewy, with an explosion of vanilla flavor. The exquisite white chocolate ganache melts as soon as you put it in your mouth, turning into a sweet and creamy goodness with raspberry flavor and a bit of a pleasant 'bite' to it. It's almost as if it has some acidity in it. Liquor really enhances the flavor of the chocolate and adds interesting nuances. Finally, the wafer brings the caramel and the ganache together and provides a gentle crunch. It's hard for me to describe the taste of these scrumptious bars adequately enough; you have to experience them yourself, but it's a very enjoyable experience. I am definitely making these again.

The ingredients

Aside from several very common ingredients like butter, sugar, heavy cream, evaporated milk, and salt, you will need some that aren't commonly found in most kitchens. They aren't that hard to find, but you will most likely have to go out and buy them or order them online.

Chambord raspberry liqueur

I've been using this liqueur for a good decade to make white ganache. If you want a delicate white chocolate ganache with an exquisite taste, Chambord is the best option. Chambord is made from red and black raspberries, Madagascar vanilla, Moroccan citrus peel, honey, and XO cognac. It's incredibly flavorful. If you can't find it at your local liquor store, use a substitute. Any good fruit liqueur will do the job but try to find Chambord.

Glucose syrup

Glucose syrup prevents the crystallization of sugars in caramel and makes it smooth and glossy. Of course, if you can't find it, you could use corn syrup or honey in its place, but they won't work as well. I highly recommend finding glucose for this recipe, and once you try caramel made with glucose syrup, you will never go back. Walmart sells Wilton brand glucose syrup. Some grocery stores sell it as well. If you still can't find it locally, try Amazon. Amazon carries a variety of glucose syrup brands.

Vanilla bean

There is no substitute for vanilla beans. Nothing can emulate their flavor and, especially, the subtle seed crunch. Vanilla beans used to be fairly inexpensive, but their prices skyrocketed in 2015-2016 following significant crop failures, changing farming practices, and increased demand. Fortunately for us, the prices have come down significantly in the recent past. You can now buy them locally or on Amazon for about 70 cents to a dollar apiece.

Cake wafers

If you grew up in Eastern Europe, you will be familiar with these cake wafers. They are very popular for making quick cakes. This is the first time I used them to make wafer bars, and they worked wonderfully. They added a nice crunch and made making caramel and ganache bars super easy. It's a lot easier than enrobing them in chocolate. I know these aren't going to be easy to find. If you live in a large city, try your local Easter European grocery stores. Any Polish, Ukrainian, or Russian store will have them. For this recipe, you will need three 11" square wafer sheets. If you can't find them locally, Amazon sells several kinds of cake wafers.

Special tools

Other than a saucepan and a couple of bowls, you will need to use confectionery frames to prevent soft ganache and caramel from spreading out. Professional confectionery frames are very expensive, well into hundreds of dollars. My cheapskate frames are 0.375" x 0.75" x 12" stainless steel bars from Online Metals. A set of four costs me about $40.

In a pinch, use a square or a rectangular cake pan. If using round wafers, use a round cake pan of the appropriate size.

Finally, you can probably get away with no frames at all. Both the caramel and the ganache in this recipe, even when warm, won't spread out too easily. Just make sure not to press the wafers down too hard to avoid squeezing out the caramel and ganache from the sides.

Another tool you will need is an accurate thermometer. A candy thermometer would probably be best, but I use an instant-read thermometer, and it works just fine.

Making caramel and white ganache wafer bars

In this recipe, I use a slightly different version of my favorite white ganache recipe from my French macaron recipe. Both the white chocolate ganache and the soft caramel recipes were adapted with some modifications from the amazing Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner book. If you are serious about making high-quality chocolates, even if you are an occasional chocolate maker, this book is a must-have. I find the recipes in it quite excellent and well-tested.

Making these bars is a two-step process. Step one is to make caramel, spread it over the bottom wafer sheet, and cover it with another wafer sheet. Step two is to make white chocolate ganache, spread it over the middle wafer sheet, and cover it with the third, top wafer sheet. That's all there is to it. Let the assembled 'cake' chill overnight, then cut into bar-sized pieces and enjoy. I cut my standard 11" square wafers into one-inch sticks of 2.75" lengths. This resulted in 44 wafer bars.

Batch size

Forty-four wafer bars sound like a lot, but they are fairly small. Still, that's a lot of dessert. These will store well for a few days on the counter, in the fridge for two weeks, or in the freezer for several months. If you want to reduce the batch size, you can easily halve it. If you do, I recommend keeping the vanilla bean full size; I am sure you will enjoy that.