I hope you guys had a great weekend! I really enjoyed having my friends over, and only wish that there was more time! But we squeezed in a lot of good stuff. Before they went home yesterday we made 6 different kinds of delicious treats for them to take home to their co-workers for Christmas gifts. Everything from traditional shortbread cookies to chocolate dipped pretzels.
Photo courtesy of Becca:
Emily wanted to make salted caramels and so we ventured into the scary land of candymaking!
Making candy is not that difficult but it can be hazardous because you’re dealing with very hot sugar which really likes to burn people. We got away with only one person getting burned (sorry Emily! :() this time.
In all the hustle and bustle of things, the girls accidentally left their caramels in our fridge when they left to go home to DC. So now they become a present to you instead!
On the 5th day of Blogmas, your true love gives to you:
The second I tasted these, it was hard for me to be too disappointed that I now have to eat them all myself. 😉 And now I have time to share the recipe with you! We essentially followed the Barefoot Contessa recipe to the letter, except we used Hawaiian red sea salt instead of fleur de sel.
The salt has a beautiful color and is rich in flavor. It goes so well with the buttery sweetness of the caramel.
Hawaiian Red Salt Caramels
by
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes+ 4 hrs. cooling tim
Keywords: dessert candy
Ingredients (32 caramels)
- 1 1/2 c. sugar
- 1/4 c. light corn syrup
- 1 c. heavy cream
- 5 T. butter
- 2 t. hawaiian red sea salt, or other good sea salt
- 1/2 t. vanilla
Instructions
In a large saucepan (the largest you have!) heat together the sugar and corn syrup with 1/4 c. of water over medium-high heat.
Boil the mixture for until it turns golden brown in color (about 10 minutes), swirling the pan around occasionally but not stirring.
Heat the heavy cream and butter in the microwave until the butter is completely melted and the mixture starts to bubble.
Once your sugar is a nice golden brown, slowly add in your hot cream. This will make it bubble and steam up like crazy so be careful and pour slowly.
Attach your candy thermometer to the pot.
Add in the vanilla and stir frequently with a long-handled spoon for about 10 minutes over medium-low heat, until a candy thermometer reaches 248 degrees.
Place a piece of parchment paper in a square baking dish and spray it with nonstick spray. Carefully pour the hot caramel into the baking dish.
Let the candy cool at room temperature for an hour then in the refrigerator for another 3 hours.
Once they’ve hardened nicely, cut them into small squares with a sharp knife.
Put each piece of candy into a small square of parchment paper, twisting and rolling the ends in opposite directions to secure them.
Store in the refrigerator.
These babies literally melt in your mouth, and the little flakes of salt on top provide for a slight crunch and an amazing flavor contrast. These would make wonderful holiday gifts for just about anyone.
Thanks for reading! Don’t forget that I’m drawing the winner for the milk frother giveaway tomorrow night so you still have one day to enter!
-Lauren
3 Responses
Athena R
Yum! I love caramel and this recipe seems so easy. That could be dangerous for me…lol
Emily
Seeing as I made them… I guess I should enter
😉
cheryl c
Not so fond of goat cheese, but sea salt caramels… that’s a different story! Can’t wait to have a little cooking time.