Love them, love them, love them. Everyone out there might be wondering how often I can post about my love of sea salt caramels. Oh, many, many, more times. I made an effort to start my first homemade batch earlier this week but the temps for the caramel in the recipe were off. In the end they were hard candies and I gave up. Today Liz made some fabulous sea salt caramels and hers looked so tempting that I jumped back on the bandwagon.
I was pretty happy about how this batch turned out, but it was still a chewier caramel then I had hoped for. These were more of the Crate and Barrel Salt Caramel texture--chewy and I was aiming for more of the Fran's gray salt caramel texture--oozy, melty. I'm guessing those would not be so easy to dip in chocolate.
I'm not going to lie to you, these were a bit high maintenance to make, but I heart these caramels, and despite the pain, I would definitely make them again. I also started thinking about the cost benefit here. With Fran's caramels averaging about $1.50 a piece (that's the price you pay for little bites of perfection), I'm guessing I had the equivalent of $144 worth of caramels here. While not the perfection of Fran's, I can handle the textural difference for a $134 cost savings.
Sea Salt Caramels
Ingredients
1 c. corn syrup
2 c sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt plus additional for sprinkling on top
2 c. heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla paste
3 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
1 lb semisweet or dark chocolate
Directions
1. Line bottom of 9 inch square pan with parchment and grease.
2. Combine corn syrup, sugar and 1/2 tsp sea salt in 3 or 4 quart pan. Cook over med heat until mixture begins to simmer. Cook 2 mins longer, stir and brush down sides with wet pastry brush.
3. In second pan add cream and vanilla and heat over low heat.
4. Attach candy thermometer to sugar pan and cook uncovered until mixture reaches between 290-300, depending upon "carmelized" flavor preference.
5. When sugar mixture reaches 290-300, turn off heat and add butter pieces stirring carefully. Slowly add the hot cream carefully, (mixture will steam, spit and bubble). Stir until completely combined.
6. Turn heat back to med so that caramel boils. Continue to cook to between 240-250 degrees, using a bowl of ice water to test the caramel's texture. Remove from heat when preferred texture is reached.
7. Pour into parchment lined pan and cool for 1 hour.
8. Turn onto another sheet of parchment and cut into squares using kitchen shears.
9. Dip into melted tempered chocolate and top with coarse sea salt.