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Mmmmm.... caramels

I just made a batch using sweetened condensed milk instead of the milk/corn syrup. I'll have to give this variant a try.

I love salted caramels **swoon**.

The Daring Baker's task last month included Alice Medrich's caramel recipe and I topped mine with Cyprus flaked salt and Salish smoked salt. So. Damn. Good.

You can see my handiwork here if you need even more 'eye candy': http://danamccauley.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/daring-bakers-amber-adventures

I love the Sea Salt Caramels from Boule and can't wait to try these. They look much easier to make than the torrone I attempted last year.

I am going to do this in the next few days. I love caramel but am allergic to cane sugar so most make me sick. I can easily sub in beet sugar or crystaline fructose in this recipe. Yippee!!! I love caramels!!!

Spare me. Those look divine. Forget making them during the holidays. New Year, Valentines, St. Patty's- those all sound like caramel holidays to me.

And maybe this question could be answered- what is with the salted caramel trend. I keep seeing a lot of recipe with salted caramel something.

how long do these keep? how far in advance can you make them before giving as a gift?

s and the r: most of my candymaking books say that homemade caramels stored in an airtight container will keep for about two weeks at room temperature.

I've made mine at least a week in advance without noticing any loss of quality. I store them in cookie tins, with sheets of wax paper between layers.

where is the picture of these shown in individual candy cups? I'd like to see! (ALTERNATIVE: Pour the caramel into individual candy cups, as shown above)

made these last night and they turned out... divine. and this was my very first caramel-making attempt, so WOW! i'm wanting to dip a batch in chocolate--should i just melt bittersweet chocolate and dip each piece in, or will that melt the caramel? (i'm assuming that's the reference to 'tempered melted chocolate'?)

Funny, I just made a different recipe of caramels last night, then saw this today! I made them very plain, and will gift them with three different flavored salts. I'll include instructions to try the caramels with the different flavors of salt - paprika/cumin, lavender/rosemary/thyme, and garam masala. I'm excited to try them tonight!

These look great - and Dana your caramels look heavenly too!!

I am looking for a caramel recipe that doesn't use corn syrup - I'm allergic! Any variants out there? I did see the sweetened condensed milk, but what else does the milk replace and in what proportions?

Di from magickalrealism: I have seen recipes that use agave syrup instead of corn syrup, they say that is is a more milky color and never really gets 'clear'. I haven't tried yet but am hoping to soon. Good luck.

Just wanted to tell others interested in trying the olive oil lemon cake that it was such a hit at a friends Hanukkah
dinner, I am making it my standard.

I also made the peppermint patties and made a whole lot of people real happy. I left out the shortening and nothing bad happen when tempering the chocolate.

Di- here comes the science

Mixing the sugar with water dissolves it- but only so much sugar can be dissolved normally. (Ever add too much sugar to iced tea and have a bunch of crystals sitting at the bottom of the glass?). Adding heat means a lot more sugar can be dissolved in the water than usual. Heating the sugar with water breaks down the crystalline structure of the sugar, which resembles a cube. When heated, the cube breaks down, and if even one tiny crystal of sugar is introduced after the crystals have started to dissolve, the sugar will "catch on" to what you're doing and stabilize and re-form in to crystals. If you do this intentionally, you can make Rock Candy.

A lot of caramel recipes strongly advise against stirring for just these reasons- if crystals stick to the edge of the pan, stirring will reintroduce them and your caramel with stabilize.

However, most sugars are not the same crystalline form. Sucrose, what we refer to as "sugar" or "refined sugar", is different from other forms of syrup. By introducing another form of sugar- say, Fructose (made from fruits and vegetables like corn and agave), the sucrose is less likely to recrystalize, because the Fructose bonds with the Sucrose, keeping it in its unstable form.


However, you can make caramel without fructose! You can use all sugar! It's just more fickle.

When making all sugar caramel, you can stir while the sugar is dissolving, just make sure to use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush the sides of the pan, to make sure any crystals sticking to the sides are reintroduced to the solution before total dissolving has occured. Once most of the crystals (as in, less than a teaspoon) are dissolved, stop stirring. Just let it do it's thing and watch as is turns yellow, amber, brown. When you do a drop-test (dropping it into the water), carefully lift the syrup from the middle of the pan and hold a paper towel under it to keep from dripping. A candy thermometer in the pan will be very helpful to know when you've reached the right temperature.

If something goes wrong anyway, add a bit more water and start from the beginning. I have also heard that adding lemon juice will prevent crystallization, but I haven't tried it.

Credit where credit's due- most of this I learned from my 11th grade chem teacher, and the wonderful Alton Brown, who has a lovely episode on the subject.

Also- can't wait to try this recipe. I received salted caramel truffles this Christmas and have been drooling for something similar ever since!