Hey Friends,
22 years ago I set up my very first farmers market booth in Montpelier, Vermont. It had a cute little 6-foot table with a totally inadequate 6-foot umbrella over it. And just 4 years later, I met the founders of Fat Toad Farm at that same market. They were raising goats, selling milk and cheese, and we often traded at the end of the day.
I was so excited when they started making cajeta. I grew up in California, where I was familiar with both cajeta and its cow's milk cousin, dulce de leche. My dad even used to make dulce de leche from cans of sweetened condensed milk while backpacking in Yosemite. So it was great to see a food of my childhood showing up at my own Vermont farmers market.
Today, goat's milk caramel is still made by only a handful of companies in the US. And we're by far the largest. Which is crazy to say because, um, have you noticed how not-large we are?
But that's some of the magic of cajeta. The concept is simple, but it's not easy to make. And it's even harder to make thousands of jars, with milk that changes throughout the year, and have the last jar taste as good as the first.
But we're obsessive about these things. We're committed to "scaling small." My baking background taught me how to adjust recipes as ingredients change so the finished product stays consistent. I love feeling the heartbeat of a food and understanding what makes it tick.
That's how we can make thousands of jars of caramel without making it feel like a product that comes from a factory.
We slowly cook fresh goat's milk in copper kettles. We still pay attention to every batch. And we're still making the kind of food I was excited to trade for at the farmers market 18 years ago.
Which flavors need a restock in your fridge?
Stock up on Fat Toad Farm caramel →
❤️ Claire
CEO & Founder
Butterfly Bakery of Vermont & Fat Toad Farm
Which flavor needs a stock up?
