I bought myself a candy/frying thermometer a couple months back. I got the idea to make candy after watching a few episodes of Good Eats where Alton Brown made some candy. He has a sweet and salty episode where he made salty caramels and the idea hasn't left my head since I watched it.
I researched the recipe and it seems...interesting. I decided to try it another time after getting a little more candy experience I found a fairly easy starter caramel recipe on a new food blog that I read: The Chic Life. The recipe was for pink salted caramels. I didn't use any pink salt. I'm not that fancy I guess.
It took me forever to get around to making these. Not because I didn't have time, but because I kept forgetting to buy a key ingredient. First it was butter, then it was corn syrup, and then heavy cream. Once I finally got all of these ingredients I had to find a recipe that incorporated them all. Yes, I got the ingredients before I actually had a recipe to follow. Silly, but I found one.
The nice thing about this recipe was I as able to add all of the ingredients into the pot all at once. So all I needed to do was to make sure the ingredients blended well and then watch to make sure the temperature didn't get too high. Easy-Peasy for my first candy attempt!
Everything blended well and I watched carefully to make sure it reached the right temperature. This pot made my kitchen smell like absolute heaven. I kept a close eye on the temperature, but some of the temperatures aren't clear on my thermometer. I watched to make sure the temperature reached 245 degrees, but I'm pretty sure I thought the wrong area was that number.
I poured the mixture into my cake pan....I know I REALLY need something square to put this stuff in. I was so excited for this stuff to settle. They wouldn't have been perfectly shaped, but I was okay with it.
While I waited for the mixture to cool, I feasted on what was left on my wooden spoon and the pot it was cooking in. This stuff was so good. I don't think I'll ever be able to buy store-bought caramels any more. As I was eating the scrapings of caramel from the spoon and the pot, I noticed that the caramel was getting harder than I thought it should have been. It seemed to be getting to the point of being a hard candy. Unfortunately, I had to go to work and leave my creation to finish hardening.
And of course when I got back and attempted to cut my caramels into squares, I could not cut through the candy. I actually broke my pizza cutter in the process. The plastic handle shattered and I almost sliced my finger. Only ended up leaving a small mark though. I tried several knives and in fear of breaking them too, I gave up. I had a circular slab of caramel. I didn't really want to waste it though since it still tasted amazing. So, I did my best to nibble away at the edges. It was tasty, but not fun to eat. I'd have to warm the candy with my hand for a while to get a small chunk of it to come off when I bit into it. It was a hassle, and eventually I just threw it away.
I plan on making these again soon and making sure they do not get this hard again. I want them nice and chewy. I'm waiting though until the boyfriend gets his braces off. I want him to be able to enjoy these chewy delights as well. I'll give you an update once I make them and let you know if they turned out alright!
On a final note, I recommend making these. You'll never go store-bought again. Want the recipe? Here it is!
