Sea Salt Caramels
There are few things that smell better than homemade caramel cooking in your home. It has perfumed the entire house with this wonderful deep sweetness. As I’m looking forward to Easter and Mother’s Day, I wanted to try making some candy for gifts. Although I’ve made caramel before for different recipes like our Caramel Popcorn, it is not something I do often enough to be confident at it. This is a simple recipe that should take away some fears. You need a candy thermometer to do this, since the temperature of the caramel is really important and as it gets dark, you may want to second guess when to take it off the heat. Trust the thermometer and it’s foolproof.
Tips:
Be very careful. The sugar gets to almost 300 degrees at some points. It will burn you!
It’s important to use the right size pot. You want a 4 1/2”-5” deep saucepan that is no more than 6” wide. It needs to be deep enough so the cream doesn’t make the whole thing bubble over. It shouldn’t be a huge pot which could lead to the caramel burning too quickly.
This is not a recipe I would do with kids. After the caramels cool and you are ready to package them is a good time to get them involved.
Sea Salt Caramels
Makes 40 candies
Recipe inspired by Ina Garten
PREP 5 minutes
COOK 20 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup heavy cream
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon fine sea salt like Malden or fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
Line a 8” square pan with parchment, allowing the parchment to hang over the sides of the pan at least 2 “ on two sides. I like to use metal clips to hold the parchment in place. Brush vegetable oil on the pan and parchment. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan (*see size recommendation in tips) combine the sugar, water and corn syrup over a medium-high heat. Do not stir the mixture, but rather swirl the pan as the sugar begins to get darker. Boil the mixture until you reach a golden brown color. If you have your thermometer in the pot at this point, you will see that it reaches about 285 degrees F.
While the sugar is boiling bring the cream, salt and butter to a simmer in a small saucepan. Once the mixture begins to simmer, turn off the heat and set aside until you are ready to add it to caramel.
Slowly add the cream mixture to the caramel. IT WILL BUBBLE A LOT, so be careful. Stir in the vanilla and place your thermometer in the pan if you haven’t already.
Continue to cook the caramel for about 10 minutes as the caramel continues to darken in color and reach a temperature of 248 degrees F.
Carefully pour the caramel into your prepared pan. Remember this is really hot! Place the caramel into the refrigerator and chill for a few hours until firm. If you keep them in the refrigerator too long they will be hard to cut. Just allow them to sit for 10 minutes and they will soften.
Remove the caramel from the pan by prying up the parchment paper that is hanging over the sides.
Sprinkle the top with additional sea salt. You can cut the caramels into a 5x8 grid, getting 40 pieces from the pan. I rolled them in my hands a bit to round the edges, but it’s not necessary. You can find candy wrappers at craft stores or you can cut parchment into little rectangles, placing the caramels in the middle and twisting the ends to seal. Store caramels in the refrigerator. Enjoy!