One of my favorite memories as a child was attending local fall festivals. I would bounce around from vendor to vendor with an apple dipped in caramel. By the end of the outing, my hands would be sticky, and caramel would find its way into my hair. I've come to associate fall with caramel. These days, hints of caramel make their way into my coffee. In honor of Halloween, I've decided to amend my love of caramel with caramel candies.
You'll have to forgive our break from our recipe and ingredient studies for this seasonal post. So, we have here: Caramel Candies Topped with Pink Himalayan Sea Salt and Caramel Cream Marshmallows.
INGREDIENTS:
- 3/4 cup whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher (coarse) salt
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt
- Line a 9 by 5 inch pan with foil. Then spray the foil with cooking spray.
- In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the whipping cream, vanilla, kosher salt, and 2 tablespoons of butter. Once it reaches a simmer, remove from heat. Cover and set aside.
- In a large saucepan, mix the sugar and corn syrup. Cook over medium heat and stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Add a candy thermometer. Cook without stirring until the thermometer reaches 310 degrees F.
- Remove the saucepan from heat and slowly pour the cream mixture in. It will bubble up a bit. Stir until smooth and combined.
- Return to heat and cook until the thermometer reads 260 degrees F.
- Then remove from heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until caramel is smooth.
- Transfer the caramel to the loaf pan. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes then sprinkle the sea salt evenly over the top.
- Once the caramel has hardened, remove from pan and then cut into candy size portions. Wrap in baking sheet pieces.
DIRECTIONS:
Caramel Cream Marshmallows:
I used a recipe posted on Smitten Kitchen to create these delicate morsels. They may look like tofu but I am told they taste like birthday cake, which I am perfectly alright with.
INGREDIENTS:
- About 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup cold water, divided
- 2 cups granulated sugar (cane sugar worked just fine)
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon of caramel extract or 7 tablespoons of caramel
DIRECTIONS:
- Oil and dust a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan with some powdered sugar.
- In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften.
- In a large saucepan, cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stir on occasion until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240 degrees F. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.
- Beat the mixture on high speed until it becomes white and thick. It should almost triple in volume. Overall, this could take 5-7 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until they become powdered whites.
- Beat the eggs, vanilla, and caramel into the sugar and gelatin mixture until they are completely combined. Pour into baking pan and sift the top with powdered sugar.
- Let the marshmallow harden in the refrigerator for 3-5 hours. Then take out and remove from pan. With a knife, cut the marshmallow sheet in to bite-sized portions. Roll and dust the marshmallow squares in powdered sugar. Make sure to cover all sides in the powdered sugar.