We are big fans of the fantastically spicy ginger chews from Ginger People (although... their oddly anthropomorphic ginger mascots? Cute or creepy?) Spicy ginger is comforting and warm, nice for winter colds, and so delicious with hot tea. When making our last batch of caramels we decided to try out our new ginger extract and make ginger candies ourselves. How did they turn out? For pictures and more, read on...
We love them. These are not nearly as spicy as Ginger People's hot stuff; instead they're warm and mild, perfect for Christmas candy giveaways. (We'll leave the hot candies for ourselves - people may not be expecting that in their Christmas boxes, yes?)
We added very fresh cinnamon too, so these have a sweet tang of ginger and the warmth of cinnamon rolled into dark caramelized sugar and cream. We could eat them all day.
Ginger Cinnamon Caramels
2 cups heavy cream
3 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
3 teaspoons fresh-ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ginger extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
Line a 9x13 baking sheet with heavy-duty foil and butter generously. Put the cream in a small saucepan and let it warm over low heat.
Put the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat and stir vigorously until the sugar melts and dissolves. Stop stirring and turn the heat to high. Cook until the sugar turns dark amber. Take off the heat.
Whisk in the butter. VERY CAREFULLY pour in the cream and whisk it. The caramel will bubble up furiously and steam. Whisk until well-combined and return to high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring, then turn the heat to medium-low. Clip on the candy thermometer and let the caramel cook until the temperature hits 250°F. Remove from the heat and quickly whisk in the ginger extract, cinnamon, and salt. Pour into the prepared pan and let it cool.
When it has cooled for a couple hours, put it in the fridge to harden overnight. The next day, cut into small pieces and wrap. These are fine at room temperature. I sprinkled them with fine sugar for an extra little crunch, which was very tasty too.
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These look incredible! Yum. One question though, I don't have a candy thermometer and wondered if anyone could tell me how long (roughly) it would take to get up to 250?
Thanks!
I'm thinking of trying this recipe but using cinamon sticks and fresh ginger to infuse the cream for several hours and straining before moving on to the next steps. (in fact, with this method you could flavor the caramels with any combination of spices).
These look insanely good. Thanks for the idea, the photos, and the recipe! Stopped me in my tracks, it did!
I tried these over the weekend and I think the recipe calls for far too much cinnamon, it was really overpowering and I ended up tossing the whole batch.
We made these this weekend. We took sillyLN's suggestion and infused the cream for an hour or two over low heat with 5 thin slices of ginger and a 3 or 4 cinnamon sticks. WOW. They're spectacular, with just the right amount of flavor. There may be none left to give as gifts!
Ohh I just made these and they taste just like the ginger people candies!
i've made something similar to these before, but a vegan version using soy creamer & vegan Earth Balance butter & various herbal extracts to make for a healthful and delicious caramel candy. i'll have to make some more this year!
I just made these and they turned out amazing. I used 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp ground ginger and they taste like gingerbread caramels. Delicious! 250 degrees gave the perfect consistency, but it took a really long time to come to up to that temperature. I probably would have stopped to soon if I didn't have a thermometer.
I would love to have a recipe just like this but without the corn syrup just like the Gingeer People's chews. My dd cannot have all that corn... Is there a way to make them without the corn syrup??
So did you omit the ginger extract completely? i can't find any near me and I'm not sure how to adjust the recipe.
Yes, I just left out the ginger extract because I couldn't find it. I thought they tasted plenty gingery with just ground ginger.