Soft Caramels Recipes

Steps:

• Grease a 12x15 inch pan.
• In a medium-size pot, combine sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, evaporated milk, whipping cream, and butter. Monitor the heat of the mixture with a candy thermometer while stirring. When the thermometer reaches 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) remove the pot from the heat.
• Stir in vanilla. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan and let the mixture cool completely. When cooled cut the Carmel into small squares and wrap them in wax paper for storage.

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.

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.

Steps:

• Line a 13x9-in. pan with foil; grease foil with 2 teaspoons butter. Cube remaining butter. In a Dutch oven, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1 cup cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Slowly stir in remaining cream. Cook over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 250° (hard-ball stage), stirring frequently. Remove from the heat; stir in cubed butter and vanilla until well mixed, about 5 minutes. , Pour into prepared pan. Cool. Remove foil from pan; cut candy into 1-in. squares. Wrap individually in waxed paper; twist ends.

Steps:

• Line a 9-in. square pan with foil; grease the foil with 1 teaspoon butter and set aside. In a large saucepan, combine the sugars, salt and remaining butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir in corn syrup; return to a boil. Remove from the heat; slowly stir in milk. , Cook and stir over medium-low heat until a candy thermometer reads 238° (soft-ball stage). Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Cool. Using foil, lift candy out of pan; cut into 1-in. squares. Wrap individually in waxed paper.

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.

Steps:

• Butter a 9x13 inch dish.
• In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, 1 cup cream and butter. Bring to a boil, stirring often, then stir in remaining 1 cup cream. Heat, without stirring, to 242 degrees F (116 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a firm but pliable ball. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and pour into prepared dish. Refrigerate.
• When cool, return candies to room temperature then cut into 1 inch squares and wrap in waxed paper.

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.

Steps:

• Heat sugar, syrup, & salt to boil in a VERY large stew pot (non-stick pot with no flaking is best). Please note that if you plan on doubling this recipe, you need to use a commercial size stew pot because the ingredients double in size as the temperature rises. Add cream VERY slowly. Cook stirring almost constantly to 239°F (or until you get just to the point where a little drizzle of cooled caramel gently rubbed between 2 fingers forms into a ball). This takes approximately 3-5 hours. Let cool a few minutes to help prevent sticking to the cookie sheets. Add nuts now if desired. Pour onto 3-4 buttered cookie sheets (cookie sheets should be buttered lightly so as not to end up with greasy caramels). Once cooled completely, flip cookie sheets over to release sheets of caramel (you may have to use a metal spatula to pull the sheet of caramel out of the cookie sheet). Use pizza cutter (if you have cooked them perfectly) or scissors (if you have slightly overcooked them to a stick-to-your-teeth texture) to cut into bite-size pieces. Each piece can now be dipped in chocolate or wrapped "as is" in small squares of wax paper (or candy wrappers).
• Note: This recipe also works great for caramel sauce -- just don't quite heat it to 239°F Hard toffee candies can be made if you heat it above 239°F Therefore, even if you mess up on your attempts to make SOFT caramels, you have SOMETHING left over for your efforts.

Steps:

• Arrange 30 paper or foil candy cups on a baking sheet. Spritz each cup with cooking spray; set aside. In a small heavy saucepan, bring the cream, butter and salt to a boil; keep warm., In a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup; cook until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Bring to a boil; cook, without stirring, until mixture turns a golden amber color, about 4 minutes., Gradually stir in the cream mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 247°., Remove from the heat. Pour into prepared liners (do not scrape saucepan). Sprinkle with salt. Let stand until firm, about 2 hours.