Caramel Puffs Recipes

CARAMEL PUFFS

Steps:

• Dip marshmallows halfway into the warm caramel. Let the excess drip off, then dip in crushed pretzels and place on a lightly oiled parchment-lined baking sheet until set. Drizzle with melted chocolate.

PUFFED CARAMEL CORN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
• Combine corn puffs and peanuts in a large roasting pan.
• Bring butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup to a boil in a heavy 2-quart saucepan. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda until mixture foams up. Pour over corn-peanut mixture and toss well using rubber spatulas.
• Bake in the preheated oven, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes, until a cooled piece of corn is crunchy, about 45 minutes.
• Spread on waxed paper to cool. Break apart and transfer to an airtight container.

CARAMEL PUFF CORN

Steps:

• Place puff corn in a large roaster pan.
• In 2 quart sauce pan bring the butter, sugar & corn syrup to bring to boil, then cook for 2 minutes.
• Add the baking soda- this will cause the caramel mixture to foam up.
• Stir well and remove from heat.
• Pour over puff corn in roaster and bake in 250* oven for 45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes.
• Remove from oven, spread out onto wax paper to cool.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL PUFFS

Steps:

• Make the puffs: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a sifter, combine the flour and cocoa powder. Sift onto a large piece of waxed paper and set aside until needed.
• Heat the water, 4 tablespoons butter, and 1 tablespoon sugar in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the sifted dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon to stir until the mixture comes together in a ball-like shape (it should be a bit like putty at this point). Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring energetically and thoroughly incorporating each egg before adding another. Divide the dough in level tablespoons (approximately 1/2-ounce per puff) onto 2 nonstick baking sheets, 12 evenly spaced portions per sheet. Place the baking sheets on the top and center racks of the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to center halfway through the baking time (at that time also turn each sheet 180 degrees). Remove the puffs from the oven and cool to room temperature.
• Make the Chocolate Caramel Ganache: Place the chopped semisweet and unsweetened chocolate in a 4-quart bowl and set aside. Heat the heavy cream and 2 tablespoons butter in a 1 1/2 quart saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to keep the cream hot, but not simmering until needed. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and the lemon juice in a 3-quart saucepan. Stir with a whisk to combine (the sugar will resemble moist sand). Caramelize the sugar for 7 to 8 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a whisk to break up any lumps (the sugar will first turn clear as it liquefies, then, light brown as it caramelizes). Remove the saucepan from the heat. Carefully pour about 1/3 of the hot cream into the caramelized sugar. Use a whisk to stir the caramel until it stops bubbling. Add the remaining cream and stir until smooth. Immediately pour the hot caramel over the chopped chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes before stirring with a whisk until very smooth. Refrigerate the ganache until just slightly firm but not hard (if the ganache is too firm, it will be difficult to pipe).
• Using a sharp paring knife, cut each puff in half horizontally. Transfer the chilled ganache to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe about 1 heaping tablespoon (approximately 1-ounce) of ganache onto the bottom half of each puff, then place the top half of the puff onto each portion of ganache. Serve immediately, or store in a tightly sealed plastic container at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.

CARAMEL CREAM PUFFS

Steps:

• Fill a small cup with water and place a pastry brush in it (this will be used for washing down the sides of the pan to prevent crystallization).
• In a clean, heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan, stir together the sugar, water, and cream of tartar. Cook over medium-high heat, occasionally washing down the sides of the pan with the pastry brush to wash away any sugar crystals, until the mixture starts to color around the edges. Gently swirl the pan to ensure that the sugar caramelizes evenly and continue to cook until the caramel turns a medium-dark amber color. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully add 3/4 cup of the cream (the mixture will bubble up furiously). Once the bubbling has subsided, stir the mixture until it is completely smooth. If there are any hardened bits of caramel in the mixture, return the saucepan to medium heat until they have dissolved. Stir in the salt and vanilla. Pour the hot caramel mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into the bowl of an electric mixer (or a different mixing bowl if you have only one electric mixer bowl; you will need it for the choux) and let cool for 10 minutes.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the caramel until chilled, about 2 hours. Meanwhile, make the choux.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• In a medium saucepan, combine the water, milk, sugar, salt, and butter and bring to a full boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Remove the pan from the heat, add the flour all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the flour is completely incorporated and the mixture pulls away from the side of the pan. Return the pan to the heat and continue to cook for another minute, stirring, to dry out the dough a bit. Transfer the dough to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and let it cool for 2 minutes.
• While mixing on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until the first egg is completely incorporated before adding the next. Mix until you get a smooth, shiny dough that falls heavily from a spoon, about 2 minutes.
• Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or pieces of parchment paper. Scrape the choux paste into a large pastry bag fitted with a 5/8-inch plain tip, such as Ateco #7. Pipe out 2-inch mounds of the choux paste onto one baking sheet, leaving 1-1/2 inches between each cream puff. Brush the surface of each cream puff with the egg wash. Use your finger to smooth out the points on the surface of each one. (Leave the remaining choux paste in the pastry bag until the first batch of cream puffs has been baked.) Bake the cream puffs for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F degrees and bake until puffed up and light golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Let cool on the baking sheet. Pipe out and bake more cream puffs with the remaining batter.
• Remove the chilled caramel from the refrigerator and gradually stir in the remaining 1 cup cream with a rubber spatula until blended. Place the bowl on the mixer stand (or transfer the cream to a mixer bowl) and, using the whisk attachment, beat the filling on high speed until medium-firm peaks form. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain tip, such as Ateco #802.
• Use a small, plain pastry tip to make a hole in the center of the bottom of each cream puff. Gently pipe the caramel filling into the hole, filling the puff completely. Lightly dust the cream puffs with sifted confectioners' sugar before serving. If you are not serving the cream puffs immediately, place them in an airtight container and refrigerate. The shells can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature, but don't fill them more than 3 hours before serving.

CARAMEL CORN PUFFS

Steps:

• Place popcorn in a large bowl and set aside. In a large saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter and corn syrup; bring to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. , Boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Stir in vanilla and baking soda; mix well. Pour over popcorn and mix until well coated. Pour into two greased 15x10x1-in. baking pans. , Bake, uncovered, at 250° for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely. Store in airtight container or plastic bag.

SALTED CARAMEL PEAR PUFFS

Steps:

• Put 300g of the sugar and the vanilla pod in a narrow, deep saucepan with 1 litre of water. Use a vegetable peeler to pare the zest from the lemon, then drop that in the pan too. Heat gently until the sugar has melted, then bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, juice the lemon and peel the skin from the pears, rubbing with lemon juice as you go, to stop the flesh browning. Carry on peeling until the pears are reduced to a size that only takes up about half of one of the holes of a muffin tin. Put the pears in the pan with the poaching liquid, cover and turn down the heat. Gently poach for about 30 mins until they are really soft - test with a skewer at the widest part. Keep the fruit submerged in the poaching liquid in the fridge until ready to finish the pudding.
• Meanwhile, make a salted caramel sauce by melting the remaining 200g sugar and the butter together in a saucepan. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the cream, bring to the boil and bubble for 2 mins while stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt. Make the batter by whizzing the milk, egg and flour in a food processor or blender until smooth (or whisk by hand). Transfer the batter to a jug. Both can be made up to 24 hrs ahead, just chill until you're ready.
• To finish, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Divide about ½ tsp sunflower oil between 6 holes of a deep, metal muffin tin. Put in the oven to heat for 10 mins. Trim the base of each pear so they'll sit flat, then dip in some of the caramel sauce and transfer to a plate for a minute for the excess to run off (you can tip this back in with the rest of the sauce).
• Working quickly, sit a pear in each hole of the tin, and pour the batter in and around. Put back in the oven and bake for 16-20 mins until the puffs are risen and golden. Warm the caramel sauce while the puffs are baking, then serve together immediately, with extra cream or crème fraîche.

CARAMEL CORN "PUFFS"

Steps:

• Bring the brown sugar, corn syrup and butter to a boil.
• Add the baking soda and stir.
• Pour the corn puffs into a cake pan and pour the caramel over, stir to coat
• Bake at 250F, stirring every 10 minutes for 45 minutes.