Salted Caramels
By America's Test KitchenPublished on October 4, 2020
Yield
Makes about 50 caramels
Ingredients
Before You Begin
You will need a thermometer that registers high temperatures for this recipe.
Instructions
- Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Using tip of paring knife, scrape out seeds. Combine vanilla bean seeds, cream, butter, and 1 teaspoon salt in small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil, cover, remove from heat, and let steep for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make parchment sling for 8-inch square baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of parchment paper so each is 8 inches wide. Lay sheets of parchment in greased pan perpendicular to each other, with extra parchment hanging over edges of pan. Push parchment into corners and up sides of pan, smoothing parchment flush to pan. Grease parchment.
- Combine corn syrup and water in large saucepan. Pour sugar into center of saucepan, taking care not to let sugar granules touch sides of saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, and cook, without stirring, until sugar has dissolved completely and syrup has faint golden color and registers 300 degrees, 7 to 9 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook, gently swirling pan, until mixture is amber-colored and registers 350 degrees, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Off heat, carefully stir in cream mixture (mixture will foam up). Return mixture to medium-high heat, and cook, stirring frequently, until caramel reaches 248 degrees, about 5 minutes.
- Carefully transfer caramel to prepared pan and smooth surface of caramel with greased rubber spatula. Sprinkle with remaining ½ teaspoon salt and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Transfer to refrigerator and chill until caramel is completely solid and cold to touch, about 1 hour.
- Using parchment overhang, remove caramel from pan. Peel off parchment. Cut caramel into ¾-inch-wide strips and then crosswise into ¾-inch pieces. Individually wrap pieces in waxed-paper squares, twisting ends of paper to close. (Caramels can be refrigerated for up to 3 weeks.)
Yield
Makes about 50 caramelsIngredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
While we love chocolate, we find gourmet caramel candies sprinkled with sea salt to be the ultimate in sophistication, and knowing how to make caramels from scratch is an alluring prospect, mainly because of the challenge these tasty chews present. Sugar can be a fickle friend, taking forever to caramelize and then going from golden amber to dark mahogany to burnt-beyond-recognition in the blink of an eye. But we cracked the code and uncovered the secret to achieving chewy, delightfully sticky caramels. Caramel candies aren't just about the sugar; you need to add cream to the caramel so that it has a rich flavor and chewy—not tooth-breaking—texture. We infused the cream with a vanilla bean to give our caramels an aromatic backnote. When it came to cooking the sugar syrup, the most important lesson we learned was not to turn your back on it. When the caramel developed an amber color, we added the cream mixture, watched it bubble, and then cooked the caramel to the right temperature. We then transferred the molten mixture to a baking pan, sprinkled it with salt, and cut the caramel into candies once it was set.
Before You Begin
You will need a thermometer that registers high temperatures for this recipe.
Instructions
- Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Using tip of paring knife, scrape out seeds. Combine vanilla bean seeds, cream, butter, and 1 teaspoon salt in small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil, cover, remove from heat, and let steep for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make parchment sling for 8-inch square baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of parchment paper so each is 8 inches wide. Lay sheets of parchment in greased pan perpendicular to each other, with extra parchment hanging over edges of pan. Push parchment into corners and up sides of pan, smoothing parchment flush to pan. Grease parchment.
- Combine corn syrup and water in large saucepan. Pour sugar into center of saucepan, taking care not to let sugar granules touch sides of saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, and cook, without stirring, until sugar has dissolved completely and syrup has faint golden color and registers 300 degrees, 7 to 9 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook, gently swirling pan, until mixture is amber-colored and registers 350 degrees, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Off heat, carefully stir in cream mixture (mixture will foam up). Return mixture to medium-high heat, and cook, stirring frequently, until caramel reaches 248 degrees, about 5 minutes.
- Carefully transfer caramel to prepared pan and smooth surface of caramel with greased rubber spatula. Sprinkle with remaining ½ teaspoon salt and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Transfer to refrigerator and chill until caramel is completely solid and cold to touch, about 1 hour.
- Using parchment overhang, remove caramel from pan. Peel off parchment. Cut caramel into ¾-inch-wide strips and then crosswise into ¾-inch pieces. Individually wrap pieces in waxed-paper squares, twisting ends of paper to close. (Caramels can be refrigerated for up to 3 weeks.)
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