Chewy Christmas Caramels
Armed with lessons learned from last Christmas, I made two batches of Fleur de Sel Caramels this year, stopping a few degrees short of what the original recipe stated because last year’s candies set up harder than I would have liked. One batch is destined to be dipped in dark chocolate and the other destined to be gobbled up before Christmas even gets here.
Sweet, salty, chewy and dotted with tiny vanilla bean flecks… These guys don’t stand a chance of making it ’til Christmas.
Fleur de Sel Caramels with Tahitian Vanilla Bean
1 cup heavy cream
5 tablespoons European style unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 tsp Tahitian vanilla
1 Tahitian vanilla bean pod, split and scraped
1 1/4 teaspoon Fleur de sel, plus more for sprinkling (flaky salt is prettier than granular, if you ask me)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup (can substitute corn syrup)
1/4 cup water
Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, then lightly butter parchment.
Bring cream, butter, vanilla, vanilla beans, pods, 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.
Remove pods and carefully stir cream mixture into the caramel (mixture will bubble up) and simmer, stirring frequently, until caramel registers 248 on thermometer. Pour into baking pan and cool 30 minutes. Sprinkle another pinch or two of fleur de sel over the top of the caramel for a nice salty crunch and let until completely cooled. Cut into 1-inch pieces (I buttered a pizza cutter), and then wrap each piece in a 4-inch square of wax paper, twisting 2 ends to close.
Yields 64 1-inch candies
Adapted from here and Gourmet, 2004
December 21st, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Looks wonderful and I love the sweet salty combo!
December 21st, 2008 at 2:21 pm
These look really good! I would be very surprised if they lasted until Christmas, very surprised indeed.
December 21st, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Haha yes, it’s ALWAYS to best to make extras of ANY treat when the holidays roll around
I’m a caramel fanatic, so those little beauties are calling out my name!!
December 21st, 2008 at 4:21 pm
These look so pretty and sound delicious. I think I am going to have to make them.
December 21st, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Ok where would one find “Tahitian vanilla”?
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:11 am
All the carmel recipes I’ve seen lately are killing me! Must go make some!
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:30 am
Pam, I make my own (Tahitian Vanilla Pods + Vodka + 8 weeks resting time). If you cannot find it in the store, you can sub Bourbon/Madagascar (aka, regular) vanilla.
December 22nd, 2008 at 10:10 am
tell me more about the vodka and tahitian vanilla pods. Just came back from Tahiti with a jar full of lovely pods, and cant think what to do with them!
December 24th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Everyone is making caramels! Yours look lovely.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Those caramels look so good!
December 29th, 2008 at 12:37 am
I’ve had salted caramels, but I like the addition of the vanilla!
January 1st, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I’m so glad you’ve posted this–I’ve been thinking about salted caramels for a while now and can’t wait to try these out!
December 24th, 2009 at 4:12 am
These are beautiful! I now have another use for my 1/4th of a pound of vanilla beans I just bought haha.
December 25th, 2009 at 11:17 am
This is the BEST caramel recipe I have ever tasted! Thanks for sharing. I’ve linked you in my blog. Your caramels are much prettier than mine; however, the flavor of my caramels is awesome.