Soft Caramel Candy Recipes

SOFT CHEWY CARAMELS

Steps:

• Line a 15x10x1-in. pan with foil; grease the foil with 1 tablespoon butter. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt remaining butter. Add the brown sugar, milk and corn syrup. Cook and stir until candy thermometer reads 250° (hard-ball stage). , Pour into prepared pan (do not scrape saucepan). Cool completely before cutting.

AUNT EMILY'S SOFT CARAMELS

Steps:

• Butter 13x9-inch pan; set aside.
• Combine all ingredients except vanilla in heavy 4-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 15-20 minutes or until butter is melted and mixture comes to a boil.
• Continue cooking 25-30 minutes or until candy thermometer reaches 244°F or small amount of mixture dropped into ice water forms a firm ball.
• Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Cool completely. Refrigerate 1 hour.
• Cut into 1 1/2x1-inch pieces; wrap candies in plastic food wrap. Store refrigerated.

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.

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.

CHEWY CARAMEL

Steps:

• In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Heat to between 234 and 240 degrees F (112 to 116 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface. Cook for 2 minutes at that temperature. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla.
• Meanwhile, butter a 9x13 inch baking pan. When the caramel is ready, pour into the buttered pan. Allow to cool completely at room temperature. Remove from the pan and cut into squares using scissors. Wrap individual pieces 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.

SOFT CHOCOLATE CARAMELS

Steps:

• In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, stir the sugar and corn syrup together until the sugar is completely moistened. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and cook, without stirring, until it turns a very light caramel color, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and very slowly pour the cream into the hot sugar (be careful-it will bubble up) and stir to combine. Return the mixture to medium-low heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until a candy thermometer inserted in the pot reads 238 degrees F, about 12 to 15 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate and butter until smooth. Pour the mixture into a greased 8-by-8 inch square baking dish. Allow to cool completely (at least 2 hours) before cutting into 1-inch squares.
• Chocolate is tempered so that after it has been melted, it retains its gloss and hardens again without becoming chalky and white (that happens when the molecules of fat separate and form on top of the chocolate). There are a variety of ways to temper.
• One of the easiest ways to temper chocolate is to chop it into small pieces and then place it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time on high power until most of the chocolate is melted. Be very careful not to overheat it. (The temperature of dark chocolate should be between 88 and 90 degrees F, slightly warmer than your bottom lip. It will retain its shape even when mostly melted. White and milk chocolates melt at a temperature approximately 2 degrees F less because of the amount of lactose they contain.) Any remaining lumps will melt in the chocolate's residual heat. Use an immersion blender or whisk to break up the lumps. Usually, chocolate begins to set, or crystallize, along the side of the bowl. As it sets, mix those crystals into the melted chocolate to temper it. A glass bowl retains heat well and keeps the chocolate tempered longer.
• Another way to temper chocolate is called seeding. In this method, add small pieces of unmelted chocolate to melted chocolate. The amount of unmelted chocolate to be added depends on the temperature of the melted chocolate, but is usually 1/4 of the total amount. It is easiest to use an immersion blender for this, or a whisk.
• The classic way to temper chocolate is called tabliering. Two thirds of the melted chocolate is poured onto a marble or another cold work surface. The chocolate is spread out and worked with a spatula until its temperature is approximately 81 degrees F. At this stage, it is thick and begins to set. This tempered chocolate is then added to the remaining non-tempered chocolate and mixed thoroughly until the mass has a completely uniform temperature. If the temperature is still too high, part of the chocolate is worked further on the cold surface until the correct temperature is reached. This is a lot of work, requires a lot of room, and makes a big mess.
• A simple method of checking tempering, is to apply a small quantity of chocolate to a piece of paper or to the point of a knife. If the chocolate has been correctly tempered, it will harden evenly and show a good gloss within a few minutes.
• From Dessert Circus, Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make at Home, by Jacques Torres.

SOFT CANDY CARAMELS

Steps:

• Line an 8-inch glass square baking pan/dish with foil extending the foil over the edges of the pan.
• Generously coat the foil with cooking spray; set aside.
• In a heavy 3-quart saucepan melt 1 cup butter over low heat.
• Stir in brown sugar, condensed milk, corn syrup and maple syrup; bring to a bowl stirring gently.
• Cook over medium heat stirring often until a candy thermometer reaches 235 degrees (or for a firmer caramel cook to 240 degrees F).
• As soon ar the temperature reaches 235 or 240 degrees immediately remove from heat, and stir for 1 minute or until the mixture is smooth and no longer bubbling.
• Quickly pour the mixture into prepared pan.
• Allow to stand for 3 hours or until cool.
• Lifting the foil at the edges of the pan remove the caramel square out of the pan.
• Using a buttered knife cut into 1-inch squares.
• If desired wrap each piece with coloured plastic wrap.