dessert sauces

• Cream butter and cream cheese together using a stand mixer or hand mixer. Cream together until light and fluffy. It's easiest to cream them when they are a bit soft. Leave the butter and cream cheese on the counter for 20 minutes to soften before using.
• Add vanilla extract and salt into the cream cheese icing and beat for 30 seconds until fully combined.
• Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and cream together. It's ok if the mixture isn't coming together yet, it will!
• Add the last cup of powdered sugar and beat until the icing becomes smooth and thick ~ 3 minutes on medium-high speed. Be patient, it will come together.
• Spread cream cheese icing on cinnamon rolls when they have cooled coming out of the oven. Cream cheese icing is enough for 12 cinnamon rolls to be iced.
  

• In a medium saucepan, place granulated sugar and water over medium heat. Let the sugar completely dissolve by stirring it with a whisk. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
• Add butter and let the mixture boil by itself. Do not stir.
• Let the mixture boil on low heat for 15-20 minutes until it becomes a golden-amber color. Let it thicken. Tilt the caramel in the saucepan to see if it's thick and caramelized.
• Remove the pan from heat when it's finished thickening. Add the heavy cream very slowly. Let it stream into the saucepan and whisk vigorously. It will bubble and could splash on you. Be sure to stand back as you add it, and wear an oven mitt to protect yourself from potential splashes. Whisk until fully combined.
• Add salt and vanilla extract. Let it cool to room temperature. Extra caramel sauce can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Praline Paste

• Roasted ~100 g of hazelnuts at 360 °F for 15 minutes. Let the nuts cool to room temperature. Remove the skins by rubbing the cooled down nuts in your hands until most of the skins have come off. Remove as much of the skins as possible off of the hazelnuts.
  
• In a medium saucepan, combine water and sugar over low – medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and begins boiling. Stop stirring the saucepan and let it boil on its own. Turn down the heat and let it boil on low (1-2).
• The sugar will go through transformations as it becomes caramel. The sugar will begin to form crystals and be completely dry in the saucepan.
  
• The sugar crystals will begin to melt and become a golden brown color. When it's turning a bit darker of a color, it's time to take it off the heat. You don't want to burn the caramel sauce.
  
• Get a baking pan ready with a silicone baking mat lining it. Once your caramel sauce is finished, remove it from heat. Mix the sauce to make the crystals melt all the way through if there's any left in the pot. Pour the hazelnuts and salt into your caramel sauce and mix until they are fully covered.
• Pour the hazelnut and caramel sauce onto the silicone baking mat. Let it cool to room temperature, it will solidify.
  
• Break the caramel into smaller pieces. Place them into a food processor. It will be LOUD. Prepare yourself! It's best to do this step with ear protection. Blend on low, then on high. Scrape the sides down and blend until it becomes a paste (a couple of minutes).
  

Hazelnut Sauce

• Place your hazelnut paste (it should be about 200 g) into a heat proof bowl.
• Heat the heavy cream over medium heat until it just before it comes to a boil.
• Remove the cream from heat and pour into the hazelnut paste. Mix until full combined. Let it cool to room temperature, then place it in the fridge for an hour until it thickens.
• Store it in the fridge for 1 week or freeze and keep it for 1 month.

• Place sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir with a spatula until it turns into a golden amber color.
• Slowly stream the heavy cream into the saucepan and whisk vigorously. The caramel with bubble and potentially splash you. Be careful to stand back as you add the cream and stir until fully combined.
• Add milk, salt and vanilla bean paste to the saucepan. Let it heat until just before it starts boiling (1-2 bubbles).
• While you're waiting for your cream to heat up, in a separate large bowl, place egg yolks, egg and cornstarch. Whisk them together.
• Temper the eggs by adding the hot cream VERY SLOWLY and whisking vigorously. Do not cook the eggs. Try adding just a small amount ~1 tbsp cream mixture at a time until you feel comfortable adding more. This way, you won't cook your eggs.
• Place the egg/cream mixture back into the saucepan by straining it through a sieve into the saucepan. This will take out any pieces of egg that may have cooked, leaving you with a smooth mixture. Heat the mixture on medium heat.
• Whisk the custard while it's heating. You'll know when it's thickened. It will be very difficult to stir the pot, you'll see how thick your custard is when you're stirring it. Once you're happy with the thickness, remove the saucepan from the heat. Add butter and mix until the butter is fully melted and combined into the custard.
• Chill the custard by putting it in a fresh bowl and adding plastic wrap directly to the custard to prevent it from making a skin. Chill for 2-3 hours until cold. Then it's ready to use!