Best Ever Homemade Caramel Candy

Soft caramels are my most requested holiday treat. They are tender buttery, with just the right texture when made correctly. I roll them up yearly and put them in the kid's stockings or a string around the tree. For a few years now, I've ordered them from a friend due to health issues, but I can make them again this year, and I'm thrilled! If you've been searching for an old-fashioned caramel recipe that works without fail, this is the one. 

My youngest son, Luke, is home from his missionary service this year. He will be here for a few months and then off to college.  My older son Samuel started his mission in August. He is serving locally, and we're blessed to have him home. I know these last two precious years are going to go by quickly! It seems like I started this blog only yesterday. The days are long, but the years are short. As we gather together in the kitchen, there is joy! I have never felt more blessed as a mother. 

So yes. We're making the caramels. It has to happen. 

Chef’s note:

• Temperature matters. The most important part of making homemade caramels is ensuring they reach the right temperature. For soft caramels, 238°F is the perfect temperature. I like to use a candy thermometer while stirring/cooking the caramels, and then, MOST IMPORTANTLY, I double-check the temperature with an instant thermometer. Be sure to check the temperature in the middle of the caramel mixture! The temperature won't be correct if the thermometer touches the pan's bottom.
• Use a stainless-steel pot if possible! These caramels turn out so much better when made in a stainless-steel pot (as opposed to an enameled Dutch Oven).

Prep Time15minutes minutes

Cook Time1hour hour

Best Ever Homemade Caramel Candy

2 sticks butter (1 cup)
4 cups sugar
2 cups dark corn syrup
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 12 oz. cans evaporated milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

• Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• Melt the butter, sugar, corn syrup, and salt together in a large, heavy-bottomed stainless-steel pot over medium heat.
• Once the mixture comes to a boil, add the evaporated milk a little at a time, taking 10 minutes per can and stirring constantly.
•  Once all the milk is added, bring the mixture to 238-240°F. Temperature is pivotal.  Use a candy thermometer, not any hotter! Even a few degrees hotter will make the caramels really chewy instead of tender and soft. This will take another 15-20 minutes. Double-check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer. Be sure to check the caramel mixture in the middle without touching the pan's bottom.
•  Immediately pour into the prepared pan and cool completely. Once the caramels are cool, it is recommended to refrigerate them for a few hours to get the caramel solid enough to slice. Cut and wrap in individual pieces of wax paper.

Storage:

Store them in an airtight container or in a candy jar. One can also store them in the fridge. They will last several weeks!

There you go! Make some amazing caramels and enjoy this Christmas with those you love. I know I am! 

Always My Very Best, 
Your Friend Chef Tess

Double Chocolate Caramel Cookies

What do I say about these? Not diabetic, not healthy...totally evil. Galactic-jello-hip pods. Diet destruction incarnated. Buttery, tender chewy fudge cookies of death. I'm in trouble. Brace yourselves people. We are going into dangerous territory...and all I have to ward off evil is a very trusty non-gilded spatula. Okay...and we put them in front of a piano and it's like the romantic music starts playing in my sweet little coco head. Hello baby...

Cookies are always a temptation for me. I can't have them in my house. We made these ones for some nice missionaries who came to dinner the other night. We packed them up happy and snug to go home with the missionaries. I'm not sure if that is helping the cause of righteousness or not. However, I am told that feeding others is good for your soul, even if you give them cookies.

Here's the damaging recipe. Hopefully it keeps you happy. I know we had fun.

Tess' Double Chocolate Carmel Cookies

1 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp double strength vanilla

1/2 tsp rum extract

1 tsp anise seed

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 cups white chocolate chips

16 pieces of Carmel (each cut into 4 wedges...)


Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and brown sugar until very fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla, rum extract, and anise seed. Add the baking powder, salt, flour and cocoa powder. Combine well. Add the chocolate chips. I use a medium ice cream scoop with a release mechanism to make my cookies. It portions them and shapes them.

Scoop onto baking sheet with 2 inches in between each dough ball. Dough will be stiff. Bake 350 degrees 8-10 minutes until just baked. Remove from oven. While cookies are still warm, push Carmel pieces into the tops of the cookies (4 pieces per cookie).

Get them out of your house as soon as possible.
There you go.

Caramel Pecan Brownies with White and Dark Chocolate

Could I be more evil if I tried? At least in things culinary, these may be near the top of the list.

This is a simple brownie to make...not simple to resist. The recipe for my basic brownies isn't very difficult. The addition of big chunks of Peter's Carmel (used by See's Candy) and wedges of white and dark Guitard chocolate just after the warm brownies came out of the oven was a stroke of genius. Gotta love having a mother who sends big care packages at Christmas time that consist mainly of gourmet chocolate and speciality Carmel in 5 lb bricks. I did generously top the brownies with chopped praline pecans for a crunchy coating too. In the end...I would highly recommend having a good friend who is willing to take these away for a very long time. I banished them to Jim the Organic Tomato Farming genius. Yes it is bribery. He didn't mind...and my thighs thank him in advance for still being able to fit in my jeans. Brownies are a danger food around here. I have a total lack of self control. It's pathetic. Thankfully however, I do have these pictures. It's much lower fat to suck on a computer screen. For an innocent bystander, it isn't something pretty to watch me do. It's right up there with watching me try to park my minivan. Have fun with these pictures anyway. I think everyone should have some evil brownies.

There you go!

Apple Cider Caramels...And STEAK.

Steak and Caramel....

a perfectly normal combination!

So my insanely evil chef friend Tara found a great recipe for us to do together and I have to say that I was so excited to get back into the evil think-tank with her. The mind melting is working perfectly and I am pleased to announce that I now have half a brain. My husband tells me that I have been running on half-full for quite some time (I think from giving him a piece of my mind on a regular basis...haa haa.) Nice. This is a recipe that I can't take credit for but can be found with the self proclaimed SUGAR PUNK. I think I would much like to meet this "kindred spirit" and invite her to the think tank, as I am sure we could cause some serious chaos! Again this is one of those areas where other EGO chefs might think I am a bit nuts. I won't apologize. I like hanging out with new people! I tend to learn some of the coolest tricks that way. Case in point, this Punk chick has some really lovely ideas. Boiling the cream separate from the sugar syrup for caramel's. I didn't think of that! Major cool! Tara thought it was cool too! So hats off to the Sugar Punk and big love for the gorgeous caramel's! After the carmels, we took pictures of a lot of steak. I know that sounds wild. It was! One of Tara's co-workers has connections with a meat company and they needed pictures for an upcoming web site. I ate steak for the first time in six months. My hubby, the Ace, is also very much vegetarian so we don't eat steak at home much. It was delicious too! I don't have a recipe for the steak. Still can't figure out how God put together a cow from scratch. But, here is the recipe for the caramel's!




Apple Cider Caramel's

recipe from:

http://sugarpunk.wordpress.com/


2 c apple cider, Reduce to 1/3 cup, set aside.

2/3 c cream
6 tbsp butter Heat to boil, then set aside.

1 1/2 c sugar
1/4 c corn syrup
1/4 water

Cook to light brown[I have found that my idea of "light brown"

Add cream, butter and reduced apple cider all at once, stirring constantly (it will foam up - use a good size pot)
Cook to 250 degrees, using med. high heat - you want to take about 5-7 minutes to get it up to temperature.
Pour it into a 8 inch square baking pan that’s been lined with two pieces of oiled parchment paper, one in each direction - this creates a “sling” to pull the caramel out of the pan. [This has always resulted in a layer of caramel approximately 1/2 inch thick. If you want thicker caramels (and I usually do), you can use a smaller pan, or I've made a spacer from cardboard that turns my pan into approx an 8x6 pan.]
[I also sprinkled a little Fleur De Sel over the caramels at this point, as I find them far too sweet if they don't have a hint of saltiness about them] (See! She needs to be in the evil think tank! You know how we love our salty-sweet!)[My final step: Cover the pan with plastic wrap, not touching the caramel (it'll melt)]. Wait until entirely cooled. Then cut with a sharp, oiled knife into pieces.

Steph's notes: If you noticed the big chunks of chocolate in the background you are SICK. Kidding, we actually had the chocolate directly shipped from my amazing Chef Mom! We ran out of dipping time. Lookie Lookie, gluten free and what a treat! My friend Ronit is going to love this one!