From bonappetit.com and Jeni Britton Bauer's cookbook, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home. Cooking time is freezing time. It was at a French bakery where I worked throughout high school and college that I first heard of salted caramel, called "salty" caramel by a chef in his thick French accent. For years it has been the most popular flavor of ice cream in our stores, accounting for more than 20 percent of sales, and we still make it the way we always have, one batch at a time, the sugar hand-stirred in a pan over a hot burner. The reward: no better flavor in the world.