A staple ingredient in many decadent desserts, salted caramel is still one of the flavours of the moment in SA. With its sweet, flirty beginning and salty finish, this luscious treat is the perfectly balanced answer to your sugary cravings. Here are five spots across the country that are stirring up rich and delicious salted caramel desserts.

The salted-caramel shake at Craft in Parkhurst. Photo supplied.

Boiler Room Café (Morningside, Durban)

This quirky coffee spot is no stranger to bold flavours. If you haven’t tried one of their gourmet shakes served in jar, you’ve been missing out. After a bacon-filled brunch, order the popcorn-and-salted-caramel shake. This beauty is made with vanilla ice cream that’s blended up with salted caramel and popcorn and topped off with crunchy popcorn pieces. A funky straw finishes off the extremely moreish drink (R38).

A photo posted by Nikita Buxton (@nikitabuxton) on Sep 12, 2015 at 3:15am PDT

The Countess (Melville, Johannesburg)

If you’re looking for true salty-sweet decadence, The Countess is your best bet. The dessert menu here boasts the heavenly pot de crème (R44), which comprises sous-vide caramelised-cream custard, topped with a slightly bitter maple syrup and a sprinkle of black lava salt. The addictive dessert goes perfectly with the accompanying creamy dollop of vanilla ice cream.

Craft (Parkhurst, Johannesburg)

Known for serving indulgent treats, this popular eatery doesn’t hold back. If you’re after an OTT milkshake, the Salted Caramel Delight is a winner. The shake contains real crème brûlée, baked cheesecake, a disc of salted caramel, chocolates oozing caramel filling, and spoonfuls of salted caramel sauce. The restaurant also serves Loaded Hot Chocolate in a salted-caramel version, with a layer of house-made milk tart, sticky sweet-and-salted hot caramel, whipped cream infused with Nutella and caramel, churros drizzled in salted-caramel sauce, a salted-caramel disk, and more churros on the side (R98).

The salted caramel freak hot chocolate at Craft in Parkhurst. Photo supplied.

Kristen’s Kick Ass Ice Cream (Noordhoek, Cape Town)

Tucked away in the quaint Noordhoek Village is this laid-back ice cream parlour. The café has over 40 flavours on the menu and the scoops of the day are based on what’s in season. All the flavours are made from scratch with free-range cream, milk, and hand-made ingredients. One of the most popular flavours of the moment is the sea-salted caramel. This velvety-smooth scoop is made with dry-roasted cane sugar and Maldon smoked sea salt for that perfect savoury hit.

A photo posted by Kristenbatzer (@kristenskickassicecream) on Sep 11, 2016 at 9:40am PDT

My Sugar (Sea Point, Cape Town)

Partly inspired by the freakshakes by Australian café Pâtissez that went viral, the milkshakes here are creative and super indulgent. While the team is constantly whipping up new and exciting flavours, it’s the miso-caramel shake that has us drooling. This salty-sweet showstopper is made using a special batch of miso-infused caramel and topped off with the popular miso-caramel Buddha chocolates, rich cookie butter, and butterscotch popcorn for crunch (R45).

My Sugar’s crazy gourmet shakes. Photo supplied.