Comments on: salted chocolate caramels

By: RevAnne

RevAnne — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 17:22:03 +0000

Yum! Made these last night because I was not so foolish as to give up chocolate for Lent. In fact, I’ve been asked not to–a little chocolate a day makes me a nicer person. So when I saw this recipe, I bookmarked it, thinking it would be something to bridge my husband’s love of caramel (too sweet for me) and mine for chocolate.
I wasn’t wrong. I’m in love.
Everything went fine. I used 60% chips, because that’s what I had, and the slight bitterness and complexity of the flavor is amazing. I used about 1/2 tsp. sea salt in the sugar mixture to start, and just a pinch or two of sel gris on top for texture. They are beautiful–glossy and almost black in color. It was a challenge cutting them, but I can’t wait to pass a few around and see the looks on people’s faces. As for the rest, they’re staying with me, where they belong!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 08:06:19 +0000

I made this tonight and it turned out even better than I thought it would! This was my very first attempt at candy making and I am so thrilled that I want to try more recipes.

I did a couple of things different, don’t know if they changed much.

I added a tsp of brandy vanilla to the chocolate-cream mixture and I used hawaiian black salt instead of fleur de sel.

My candy thermometer didn’t work very well so I heated it to I guess around 258 before I added the butter (just 2 TBSP.).

The caramels set up perfectly and saved me a trip to World Market. My hubby and son love these, thanks!!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 17:51:15 +0000

Just found your site! I saw this entry and was reminded of my caramel making experience last week. I made some Vanilla Caramels out of an older cookbook called Homemade Candy. My caramels ended up a little softer than I wanted too. I was havign problems getting the thermometer to stay in a spot to get and accurate measurement. Oh well, they taste good! I had to cute a couple rows out of the pan while keeping the rest in the fridge and found that to be a good way to keep them firm while wrapping. I am storing them in the fridge as well so that they stay the texture I was aiming for.

By: gisele

gisele — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 02:42:06 +0000

Thanks Deb! I’ll definitely try this recipe! Is there anything that can substitute corn syrup? I’m not sure if I can get that in my neck of the woods (New Zealand). I’ll do my best to find it though!

By: Helen

Helen — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:59:57 +0000

How funny! I was just stopping by playing catching up…while waiting for my chocolate caramels to cool down. I am making a bunch of food gifts before we leave.
Great recipe!

By: Carly

Carly — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 14:37:12 +0000

I recently had sea salt caramel ice cream (Bent Spoon, Princeton) and when I saw this yesterday, I decided to make them last night. I am so relieved you found them to be kind of soft too (and I cooked them to 255, still soft). I had images of packaging these up and sending them out for Christmas, but out of the fridge for 5 minutes, I couldn’t cut them. Now they are sitting in the fridge with a butter knife for instant snacking while the fridge door is open. Not my Christmas gift this year, but definitely a tasty bite with coffee in the morning.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 11:52:27 +0000

Yum! These sound delicious. My candy making skills are very limited, but I love to eat the resulting confections! As for the thermometer, Alton Brown did a segment this week on candy making; he recommends a digital thermometer for the highest accuracy and success.

By: Gloria

Gloria — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 06:01:28 +0000

Ooh! When I got my issue of Gourmet, I immediately bookmarked the salted chocolate caramels recipe to make as holiday gifts. It’ll be my first time making candy, so we’ll see how this goes.

By: Jenifer from Memphis

Jenifer from Memphis — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 03:48:01 +0000

I would still eat your salted chocolate caramels! I’ve only made truffles and fudge, so I salute you and your attempt at candy making. I know that lollipops are intricate suckers, so watching the temp is key…but that lesson has been learned. How is your arm doing?

TWO MORE POSTS until NaBloPloMo is DONE! Deb for Blog Queen!

By: deb

deb — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 00:36:25 +0000

I finally cut up the caramels, slivering off the salt layer (though a few flecks remain) and right from the fridge, they’re fantastic. Once they hit room temperature, they are too soft, but cold, the texture is perfect. I can’t underscore enough that if you are a dark chocolate fan, use the 72% stuff. You’ll be very glad you did.

Mk – Thanks for the head’s up. They sound delightful. Btw, I didn’t even like caramel before. It always tasted so bland. But, now that I’ve had it homemade I see its charms. I just don’t feel it for the Rolo’s variety. (My husband is appalled right now. He loves the Rolos.)

Liz – Thank you! Yes, that salt was way too fine. Basically, I have pretty beady sea salt we keep in a grinder so the full pieces were a non-option. But, the ground pieces were way too coating. I practically brined them. For shame. Margarita bars sound awesome.

Phc – You started this, you know! You and your request for candies. But seriously, watch the salt on these. Or, just use salted butter in them. There’s got to be some happy in-between.

Heather – Hooray for the Mac and Cheese! I’m glad it’s getting around.

Hilary – I did get the one that clips to the side of the pot, and frankly, it looks exactly like the Oxo one I was going to grab. It was my interest in sweet and salty, btw, that switched me to cooking with salted butter. (Which in addition, lasts extra weeks in the fridge beyond the unsalted variety.) I really like the way it heightens the flavor of baked goods.

Dodi – Thanks for sharing – that was lovely.

Genevieve – Thanks for the advice. I admit fascination with the chemistry, too, the ‘it will work if you do this way’ of it. Of course, this doesn’t help when I read 255 as 225, but still! They’re quite good.

Gisele, and also Yvo – Not sure if this would work without the chocolate, but here! Another recipe, this one from Mark Bittman is where I’d start for non-chocolate caramels. I’ve had a lot of luck with recipes from this book, but I haven’t tried this one yet. Let me know if you do.

Caramels
Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick unsalted butter), plus some for greasing the pan
1 Ã‚Â½ cups heavy cream
2 cups sugar
Ã‚Â½ cup light corn syrup
Pinch salt
1Ã‚Â½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.
2. Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a small saucepan and turn the heat to low. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves, hen cook, stirring only occasionally, until the mixture measure 245 degrees (a small piece of it will form a firm ball when dropped into a glass of cold water, but the thermometer is an easier and surer test).
Stir in the vanilla and pour into the prepared pan. When the mixture has cooled to room temperature, remove the block of caramel from pan and use a sharp knife to cut it into small squares. Wrap each square in waxed paper or plastic wrap. These keep for weeks, but are best eaten fresh.

Shuna – Yes, balance is indeed the missing ingredient in the salt assault. Just a little would have done the trick. This amount is grimace inducing. (But they’re great once I slivered the salt off. TOO good! I don’t want to give them away anymore.)