I have always wanted to be able to make homemade, yummy, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth caramels... but I was scared to. Doesn't it sound hard?? I don't own a candy thermometer and the whole "drop it in cold water and check to see if it has reached the soft ball stage" concept intimidated me. HOWEVER - this year I decided to try to overcome this ridiculous fear... and so I found this easy "no fail" recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/ - and decided to give it a try (with Jeremy's help and moral support of course).
Ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine
1 pound light brown sugar (= 2 1/2 cups)
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup light corn syrup
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup butter or margarine
1 pound light brown sugar (= 2 1/2 cups)
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup light corn syrup
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
Directions
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. (This whole process took approx. 30 minutes of constant stirring - thanks for stirring Jeremy!)
Meanwhile, butter a 9x13 inch baking pan. When the caramel is ready, pour into the buttered pan (we lined the pan with wax paper instead). 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.
This made more than 144 individual caramels (that took at least 45 minutes to cut and wrap). But they turned out delicious! I am so happy with them and proud of us for trying something new. :)
