Fresh Cream Caramels

Et voila - a recipe for soft and chewy caramels that doesn't call for a can of condensed milk. 

These are wonderful and make lovely gifts, individaully wrapped and packaged in a cello bag with pretty ribbon. 

Yield: 60 individual caramels (.5" x 1" long batons)

YOU WILL NEED

A few essential things will make you successful here:

1. A good candy thermometer

2. Read thru all the directions so you dont encounter any surprises. You neeed to everything ready to go for this recipe.

3. Waxed paper for wrapping, and those cello party bags adn ribbon if you want to go all out

4. A nice flaky sea salt if you want them to be the salted caramel variety

INGREDIENTS

2 cups white granulated sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1 T Meyers Rum or  vanilla extract (or one-half vanilla bean, scraped)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups heavy cream 

OPTIONAL: 1/2 t large flaky salt ( like Maldon and will totally experiment with a smoked salt or a spiced chipotle or other pepper)

METHOD

Lightly oil a piece of foil pressed into an 8-inch square inch pan. The foil should come up at least 1.5 inches on each side. Set aside

In a small saucepan over low heat, add the butter and cream and heat gently until just melted. Toss in one-half scraped vanilla bean if you have one. Reserve.

In a large saucepan, add 2 T water and the corn syrup and bring to a low boil. Slowly add sugar and swish the pot gently to combine. Cook over medium high heat, resisting the temptation to stir, setting a candy thermometer in place once the mixture looks well combined. Cook until it turns light amber and reaches a temp of 320. It will only take about 10 minutes, so stay close and keep an eye on it.

Once you reach 320, turn off the heat and immediately pour about 1/3 of the butter/cream into the sugar (or use a ladle - the amount isn't terribly important, the idea is to just add a bit at a time becuase the mixture is low key VOLCANIC at this point). Let it settled down a bit, then add another third, rest and repeat with the final bit. At this point, the caramel needs to cook more to develop a rich caramel color - so return to a med-high heat and cook until  it reaches 240. That should take about 10-15 min, and at this point you can stir it gently if you like. I like to use the flat bottom of my candy thermometer for this, scraping the bottom to make sure all the sugar is well combined.

When it hits 240*, immediatey remove from heat and add the vanilla extract or rum and stir in. Fish out the vanilla bean if you used one and pour gently into the prepared pan. Allow to cool for about 20-30 min, then top with the flaky salt. Cool completely (like 4 hours or, better yet, overnight).

Remove from the pan, removing the foil and place on a cutting board. Cut into ten skinny ropes and cut each rope into four logs. Wrap in trimmed waxed paper and twist the edges like a tootsie roll.

*want firmer caramels? Cook here until 245. Want em softer? They may not hold their shape as well, but fine, go ahead and add another 1-2 T cream along with the rum or vanilla at the end.