Classic Caramel Candies Recipes

CLASSIC CARAMEL CANDIES

Steps:

• Lightly brush bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet with oil. Line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on long sides; lightly brush parchment with oil.
• Bring cream, sugar, butter, and corn syrup to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium-high; cook, stirring occasionally, until caramel reaches 248 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 15 minutes.
• Immediately remove caramel from heat, and stir in salt and vanilla. Pour caramel onto baking sheet, and let stand, uncovered, at room temperature at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
• Lifting by parchment overhang, transfer caramel to a large cutting board. Cut into 3/4-by-1 1/4-inch pieces; wrap each piece in waxed paper or cellophane.

CARAMEL CANDIES

Steps:

• Combine brown sugar, white sugar, butter, corn syrup, cream, milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat, stirring occasionally, to 250 to 265 degrees F (121 to 129 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a rigid ball. Pour into an 8x8 inch pan. Let cool before cutting.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CANDIES

Steps:

• Place all ingredients in medium saucepan. Bring to boil on low heat, stirring constantly. Cook until mixture is thickened and reaches 246°F when tested with a candy thermometer, stirring constantly.
• Pour into lightly buttered 8x4-inch loaf pan. (Do not scrape mixture from bottom of saucepan.) Let stand until set. Score candy into 48 squares with large sharp knife. Invert candy onto cool surface; turn over so marked side is up.
• Cut candy into squares. Wrap each caramel in waxed paper. Let stand in cool place overnight to set. Store at room temperature.

TRIED AND TRUE CARAMEL CANDY

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and cook on medium-high flame.Stir consistently as the ingredients melt and combine.
• Let mixture come to a rolling boil and continue stirring consistently.
• Mixture will begin to thicken more and more the longer it is allowed to boil. Keep in mind that the caramel will firm up considerably when it is cooled.
• Cook to medium ball stage. Do the drop test to see how firm your caramel is.
• DROP TEST: Get a small bowl and fill it with ice water. Set it to the side of the stove and when you think your Caramel is firming up, take a spoonful and drop it in the ice water. Wait about thirty seconds so it has time to cool, then take the caramel out of the ice water and squish it between your fingers. If it isn't as firm as you want it, cook the caramel for a bit longer and then do another drop test. Keep doing this until it has reached the stage you want. See how easy and simple that was?.
• Remove caramel from heat and let cool for a while in the pan.
• When it is somewhat cooled, pour it out onto a greased counter, or onto parchment paper.Let cool to room temperature.
• Use a pizza cutter to cut strip off the caramel, then cut the strip into small pieces and wrap in pieces of wax or parchment paper. The softer the caramel, the more likely it is to stick to the wrapping. So if you like it really soft, I would suggest you use parchment paper instead of the wax.
• The best thing about this recipe is that it tastes good no matter how hard or soft you cook it. If you want a caramel syrup, then you boil it for a very short while. If you want a caramel toffee, the flavor will still be as wonderful. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have over the years.

CARAMEL CANDIES

Steps:

• Grease an 8 by 4-inch (20 by 10 cm) loaf pan and line it with a parchment sling so that the paper comes up all the sides and has about a 2-inch (5 cm) overhang on each side. Grease the parchment paper.
• In a large, heavy-bottom saucepan (the caramel will bubble up quite a bit once it starts cooking, so it's important to have a deep pan) over medium-high heat, combine the sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt, stirring very gently to combine while trying to avoid getting any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan. Cover and bring to a boil, until the sugar has melted and the mixture is clear, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Uncover and cook until the sugar has turned light golden and reaches 300ºF (150ºC) on an instant-read thermometer, 6 to 7 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and cook until deep golden (340ºF or 170ºC), about 4 to 5 minutes more. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and add the heavy cream and butter (the cream will foam considerably, so be careful pouring it in).
• Return the pan to medium-high heat and cook until the caramel reaches the desired stage, stirring frequently, 4 to 7 minutes. For soft, melt-in-your mouth caramels, cook until 248ºF (120ºC), and for firmer caramels with a bit more chew, cook until 252ºF (122ºC). Stir in the vanilla off the heat. Let the caramel sit for 2 to 3 minutes, until the bubbles subside.
• Carefully pour the caramel into the prepared pan and gently tap the pan on the counter a few times to eliminate any air bubbles. Let the caramel cool completely, then transfer to the refrigerator and chill for 1 hour.
• Using the parchment overhang, lift the caramel out of the pan. Peel away the parchment paper and cut the caramel in half lengthwise, then cut each half into twelve 2-inch (5 cm) pieces, for 24 rectangular pieces. Candies can be left as rectangles, or cut again into squares, for a total of 48 pieces. Individually wrap each caramel in wax paper or cellophane, twisting the ends of the paper closed. The wrapped caramels can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

SALTED CARAMEL CANDIES

Steps:

• Line 9x5-inch loaf pan with foil; spray foil with cooking spray.
• In 1-quart saucepan, heat whipping cream, vanilla, kosher salt and 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat until mixture just begins to simmer. Remove from heat; cover with lid. Set aside.
• In 2-quart heavy saucepan, mix sugar and corn syrup; add candy thermometer. Cook over medium heat, stirring gently, until sugar is dissolved. If granules of sugar become stuck to sides of saucepan, use wet pastry brush to brush granules down towards syrup. Cook syrup, without stirring, until thermometer reads 310°F. If hot spots or darker areas occur while cooking, gently roll saucepan around to evenly disperse syrup.
• Remove saucepan from heat. Slowly pour cream mixture into syrup. Syrup will bubble violently so be careful to add cream slowly to ensure syrup does not bubble over edge of saucepan. Stir until smooth.
• Return saucepan to medium heat. Cook caramel until thermometer reads 260°F.
• Remove saucepan from heat; remove thermometer. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter until caramel is smooth.
• Pour caramel into loaf pan. Cool 8 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle coarse sea salt evenly over top. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack.
• When caramel is cool, remove from pan by lifting foil. Peel foil from caramel. Using sharp long knife, cut into 35 to 40 squares. Wrap each caramel individually with waxed paper or cellophane.