Salt Licorice Sauce
Two ingredients, one pot: licorice candy melted into a pourable sauce for camp desserts.
- calories
- 140
- weight
- 1.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 93
- protein
- 1 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 1 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 16 min
- water
- 100 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Salt licorice boats | 1 bag (about 4 oz) | Norwegian lakrisbåter; any soft salmiak licorice melts the same way |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 100 ml | 1 dl |
Method
- Put the licorice and 100 ml of water in the pot. Break the pieces up first so they melt faster.
- Heat low and stir constantly. Licorice scorches on a hot spot and the burnt taste does not come out.
- Keep going until the candy has fully dissolved and the pot holds a smooth dark syrup, roughly ten minutes.
- Pull it off the heat and let it cool a few minutes. It thickens as it drops in temperature.
- If it sets up hard overnight, add a splash of water and warm it again over the lowest flame you have.
This is candy plus water and nothing else. Licorice boats are mostly sugar, syrup, and gelling starch, so heat and a little water take them apart into a sauce. Salmiak licorice also carries ammonium chloride, which is why the result reads as salty rather than only sweet.
The only real technique is patience over low heat. Sugar this concentrated burns fast on a canister stove’s narrow flame, so stir and keep the pot moving. The sauce sets firm when cold, which is a feature on trail: make it at home, carry it as a solid, and melt it back with a splash of water. Nothing here needs a fridge.
Packing
The bag of licorice is the whole kit. Carry it as-is and measure water with your pot markings. A small screw-top jar is worth it if you want to make the sauce at home and pour it in camp.
Variations
- Sweet licorice instead of salted if you do not want the salmiak edge.
- Spoon it over instant vanilla pudding made with powdered milk, or over rehydrated dried berries.
- Cut the water to 75 ml for a thicker sauce that clings instead of runs.
https://meny.no/oppskrifter/dessert/lakrissaus