Caramel topping is best known as a topping that you put on treat foods like ice cream and custard. Caramel itself is a confection which is beige and even dark brown in color; it is made very simply by heating together any number of different sugars. While used as a topping on custards and ice cream, too, it can also be used for added flavor in desserts as well as puddings and as a filling in bonbons.
Caramel as a Topping
Caramel topping is but one way that caramel is used. Broadening things a bit, caramel is easily seen as being a contributing ingredient in many popular foods. In example, caramel apples or candied apples incorporate caramel by dipping apples on a stick in hot caramel. At this point, the apple is then usually rolled in some nuts or other confections. In another way, pralines also use caramel extensively in their creation, with sugar that has been caramelized usually serving as a coating for the nuts.
Nougat is yet another type of treat that uses caramel to a great extent, especially the brown nougat variety. Brown nougat is essentially made with caramelized sugar and, as a result, possesses a texture that is both firm as well as more crunchy than other varieties of nougat like white nougat.
High Calorie Content
Caramel topping exhibits a fairly high amount of calories per serving. This is not favorable news if you want to either lose weight or at least maintain a weight that is consistent. In one context, you ingest 110 calories if you only eat two tablespoons of caramel topping. To look at this in yet another way, to burn off this added amount of calories, you would have to engage in a game of basketball for 15 minutes, engage in labor-like carpentry work for 29 minutes, or spend more than an hour simply typing at your keyboard.
You gain weight from eating foods with too many calories if your intake of these calories exceeds your expenditure of the same calories. While calories are the energy you get from foods, frequently eating foods that are calorie-rich like caramel topping will cause your midsection to swell.
High Sodium Content
Sodium, or salt, is quite high in any serving of caramel topping. In a mere, two tablespoon helping of caramel topping, you already take in 140 milligrams of sodium. Putting this into perspective, that already counts for almost 10 percent of your daily sodium value. From that baseline, you can see how easy it is to quickly exceed your daily value. Sodium in excess can be harmful to the body, as it can lead to cardiovascular disease, stroke, edema, heartburn and/or cardiac enlargement.
