Caramel Bliss

I love caramels. Love, love, love them.  Luscious, rich, sweet little squares of goodness that make you want to close your eyes as you savor the slightly burned sugar with the added complex flavors of butter, vanilla and salt.  

Seeing as I love to experiment making things from scratch, I went in search of a good caramel recipe.  I tried a few, some of which were disastrous flops.  Others didn't come out quite right.  They were either too chewy, which made my jaws hurt, or the butter separated from the sugar during the cooking process.  I finally came upon Carole Bloom's recipe for Classic Cream Caramels from her book "Truffles, Candies & Confections - Elegant Candymaking in the Home".  The author describes these as "Truly the quintessential caramel.  They are chewy and creamy and just plain good".  I have to agree. 

There are a few lessons I've learned while making caramels, which I would like to share with you so you know what you're getting yourself into (insert smile icon here).  I don't mean to intimidate you with that statement, I just wish someone had told me these things prior to my experimentation.

• While I absolutely support the idea of having children help in the kitchen, this may be one of those situations where you may want to have them go play outside.  They can help measure the ingredients, but I would advise against having them doing the stirring.  Cooked sugar can scald when hot, with extremely painful results.  
• Keep a bowl of ice water near you while cooking caramels.  If you happen to burn yourself with cooked sugar, immediately dunk the burned area in ice water to ease the pain.
• Making caramels requires a good amount of stirring.  If you have a physical ailment that may cause joint pain, you may have some difficulty with the process and may want to solicit help.
• Never make caramels on a rainy day.  The corn syrup and sugar will absorb moisture from the air and the caramels will end up a gooey mess that won't hold their shape.
• Use a metal spoon to stir the caramel.  Avoid using a wooden spoon as these tend to absorb odors and flavors when previously used.  If you have to use a wooden spoon, use a brand new one save it just for making caramels.
• Have a good pastry brush available to wash down the sides of the pan when cooking the sugar.  This is very important to avoid sugar crystallization.  It makes sense to invest in a good quality plastic or silicone-bristled pastry brush.
• Make sure to have an accurate thermometer, because temperatures are key to successful caramels. Use a deep-fry thermometer but avoid the cylindrical ones that have a temperature bulb at one end and a clip at the other.  The bulb will need to touch the cooking sugar while it avoids touching the sides of the utensil which is diffuclt to do because of the clip.  Go for the immersible deep fry thermometer like the one pictured right.  It costs around $10.
• Once the caramel has been poured into the sheets to set, do not scrape the caramel from the sides and bottom of the cooking utensil.  Instead, add some milk or cream and reheat the leftover caramel until it melts into a viscous syrup.  Pour into a glass bottle and use it to top ice cream
  
• Never store caramels in the refrigerator for the same reason that you want to avoid making them on a rainy day.
• Wrap caramels in cellophane paper or wax paper made for this specific purpose.  Commercial wax paper available in a roll cannot be twisted and will tear. Sur La Table's caramel wrappers were large squares of parchment paper, which you want to avoid.  Michael's craft store sells cellophane paper by the roll in many different colors.  I use Confectioners Wax Paper which I buy online from Country Kitchen SweetArt.  I buy the packet of 500 and cut them in half because each square is quite large.  Amazon.com offers some choices as well, but they are slightly more expensive.

Now for the recipe.  Drum roll, please. Here we go!



CLASSIC CREAM CARAMELS


2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

• Line a 13 by 9 baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Coat the foil with vegetable oil and set aside.
• In a heavy-bottomed deep saucepan, combine sugar and corn syrup over medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil.  Wash down the sides of the pan a few times with a pastry brush dipped in warm water, to prevent the sugar from crystallizing.
• Place a candy thermometer in the saucepan.  Increase the heat to medium high and cook the mixture, without stirring, until it registers 305 degrees on the thermometer.
• In the meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat.
• Add the butter, a little at a time, to cooked sugar.  Keep the mixture boiling on low heat.  Slowly add the cream and continue cooking, stirring vigorously, until the caramel registers 250 degrees on the thermometer.
• Remove the saucepan from the heat and let stand for about 5 minutes.  Add the vanilla and salt and stir well.  
• Pour caramel into prepared baking sheet.  
• Allow caramel to set for 5 to 6 hours, then mark the caramel with a knife.  This will make it easier to cut it into pieces when set.
• Cool the caramels for an additional 2 hours until firm.  
• Coat a cutting board and a sharp knife lightly but thoroughly with vegetable oil.
• Remove caramel from the baking sheet and carefully peel off the aluminum foil.  Set the caramel on the oiled cutting board.
• Using the oiled knife and with a sawing motion, cut the caramels into bite-size pieces.  Wrap immediately and store in an airtight container.  
• DO NOT REFRIGERATE.  The caramels will keep for two weeks.

The base recipe yields caramels that taste wonderful all on their own, but lends itself to many variations.  I have added chopped pecans, used it as a filling for caramel truffles and dipped the set caramels into dark chocolate and topped with a pinch of Fleur De Sel.  Feel free to play around and come up with your own creations.


In the words of the inimitable Julia Child, Bon Apetit!