Fleur de Sel Caramels

A holiday treat that I have been impatiently waiting to make is Fleur de Sel Caramels.  I just love the combination of salty and sweet.  While caramels were always part of our traditional holiday candy making repertoire, I think that I have never made them myself.  My mom always made the caramels while we were busy with one of the other candies.  When I saw a container of Fleur de Sel sitting on a shelf of a local kitchen store back in October, fleur de sel caramels popped into my mind as a delectable treat to make for holiday gifts.

December was a crazy busy month for us and it left only one weekend to do my holiday baking and candy making.  Many things were scratched of the list but caramels were never questioned.  And I am so glad that I found the time to make these.  They are seriously delicious. 

Caramels can be tricky.  It requires one to completely devote themselves to the task at hand.  The only multi-tasking is the type involved with the task at hand. 

They also require one to be using all senses while they cook.  The color and scent is often an indicator of where the ingredients are in their road to becoming caramels.  A thermometer is also quite important as moving to the next step once arriving at the appropriate temperature is non-negotiable. I didn't have a candy thermometer to use while making these so used a regular digital thermometer and tried to move it as little as possible to avoid causing any agitation of the simmering sugar.

I am also quite fond of the combination of caramel, chocolate, and salt so dipped a few caramels in tempered bittersweet chocolate... yum.  These caramels are nice for gifting; maybe handmade candies for Valentines day?

Fleur de Sel Caramels

Source: Gourmet

1 cup heavy cream
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon fleur de sel*
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water

Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, then lightly oil parchment.

Bring cream, butter, and fleur de sel to a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and set aside.

Boil sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil, without stirring but gently swirling pan, until mixture is a light golden caramel.

Carefully stir in cream mixture (mixture will bubble up) and simmer, stirring frequently, until caramel registers 248°F on thermometer, 10 to 15 minutes. Pour into baking pan and cool 2 hours. Sprinkle fleur de sel across the top of the caramel once it has cooled for decoration and a bit more obvious of a salt flavor.  Cut into 1-inch pieces, then wrap each piece in a 4-inch square of wax paper, twisting 2 ends to close.

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Comments

[Colleen]

I'm totally making these! Yuuuuuuuuuuuum!