Rooibos & Baleni Salt Caramels

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Chocolates & confections, South African Flavours

27 June, 2025

30 each
30 Minutes
Set overnight
vegetarian
confident cook

We have a deep love for both patisserie and the bold, distinctive flavours of South Africa. These salted butter caramels perfectly showcase two indigenous ingredients we hold dear: Rooibos tea and Baleni salt. Rooibos needs little introduction — its earthy, naturally sweet notes are a beloved hallmark of South African flavour. Baleni salt, however, is a lesser-known gem. Prized for its rich minerality, this artisanal salt has been used by Southern African cooks and traditional healers for generations. Today, it’s gaining global recognition among fine dining chefs. Harvested from the Baleni hot mineral spring — a geothermal source nestled in the otherwise arid Mopane veld near Shawela village in Limpopo — this salt is not only unique in flavour but also in origin. The spring was declared a Natural Heritage Site in 1999, adding cultural and environmental significance to this exceptional ingredient.

Ingredients

10 Rooibos teabags / 30g “stokkies” rooibos tea leaves (unprocessed tea)
400g Butter, unsalted
250g Cream
5g Baleni salt (or any flaked salt)
500g Granulated white sugar
75g Glucose

Method

Remove the tea leaves from the teabags and add them directly to the cream.
Bring the cream and rooibos mixture to a simmer. Allow the mixture to simmer for 5 minutes and then remove it from the heat and cover. Let the cream and rooibos infuse for at least 1 hour, but for best results, infuse it overnight.
Once infused, strain the cream through a muslin cloth to remove the tea.
Weigh the volume of the cream again to ensure that you have 250g of cream and top up with some more cream if needed.
Combine the rooibos-infused cream, butter, and salt and bring to a boil in a small saucepan.
In a larger pot, heat the sugar and glucose together, making a dry caramel. Check the temperature with a thermometer – it needs to reach 145°C.
Once this temperature has been reached, add the boiling cream mixture. Take care as the mixture will splatter and grow in volume. Continue whisking the mixture until the bubbles subside.
Continue to heat the caramel over medium heat to 120°C, whisking regularly. Once this final temperature is reached, work quickly with the warm caramel and pour it into a well-sprayed baking frame on a tray lined with a silicone mat or a square baking tin. Once the caramel has cooled completely, remove it from the mould and cut it into the desired shapes. Store in an airtight and dry environment.
Garnish with salt and rooibos if desired; alternatively, wrap individual blocks with greaseproof paper squares and store them in a dry place.