Ever since we made Salted Caramel Ice Cream a week or so ago, everything in my world has been coming up caramel. Kara and I both can’t get enough of it. Salted caramel is, simply put, out of this world amazing. It’s that sweet and salty combination, it makes me swoon.
But in all honesty, I was hesitant to try these at first. I tried a different recipe for Fleur de Sel Caramels awhile back and they never became firm. It ended up more like too thin caramel syrup. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. But these couldn’t be any easier, and they tasted heavenly. The most important step is having a candy thermometer and making sure it reaches the correct temperature. You must try these out! In fact these individually wrapped caramels in a cute container would be a sweet and thoughtful gift for Mom’s day.
Here's what you'll need
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot add corn syrup
Honey
Heavy cream
Sugar
Salt
And butter
Stick the candy thermometer in and put the heat on medium
Stir continuously
Looks like we've reached 250 degrees, it's important to be precise
Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla
Pour it all in your lined and oiled baking dish
Get every last drop of heavenly goodness
Sprinkle with Fleur de Sel and allow it time to set
One word. Yum.
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Ingredients:
Yield: Makes 2½ pounds of caramel (enough for 16 2-inch squares or 64 1-inch squares)
1 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup honey
2 1/3 cups sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
PAM cooking spray, for baking dish & knife
Fleur de Sel, to taste
Special Equipment:
Candy thermometer
Directions:
Cut parchment paper to line an 8x8x2 inch square baking dish. Allow enough paper to extend over all four sides. Lightly spray the parchment-lined dish with PAM cooking spray. Dab it with a paper towel to remove any excess oil.
TIP: Before adding honey and corn syrup to your measuring cup, spray cup very lightly with cooking spray. This makes removal easy.
In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine the corn syrup, honey, sugar, salt, heavy cream, and butter.
Cook, stirring continuously (using heat resistant spatula), until the mixture reaches 250 degrees F (firm-ball stage). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
Pour caramel into the prepared pan and sprinkle with Fleur de Sel. Set aside, uncovered, in a cool place to firm up. When firm, loosen the edges of the pan with an oiled knife. Turn out onto a clean work surface and, using a lightly oiled knife, cut into strips, then into squares. Wrap each square in parchment paper, twisting the ends. The caramels keep in an airtight container in a cool dry place for 2 weeks.
Source: adapted from Baking Is My Zen
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