Foodie Friday--Sea Salt Caramels

For the last few years, I have been looking for the elusive hard caramel recipe that can be cut and dipped for candy giving. I’ve used Peter’s caramel (Country Kitchen Sweetart is actually $4 cheaper than Amazon!) for my turtles for years and have even cut them into small bite-sized squares and dipped them in chocolate. It’s wonderful and buttery, but it hasn’t quite been what I was looking for.

I had wanted to make a salted caramel. I’ve heard about them for years, but just couldn’t find the recipe I wanted . . . until now. This recipe is to DIE for! It has the sweet, salty crunchiness along with the right amount of stiffness that a good caramel should have. Try it--you’ll fall in love with it just like my ‘guinea pigs’ did!

--On a side note, when sugar cooks it splatters and recrystallizes on the sides of the pan just above the liquid line. Many recipes will recommend 'washing' the sides of the pan with water on a brush when cooking sugar. I don't do this any more. It's too time consuming and it really doesn't help. SWIRL the hot sugar mixture periodically, and when you pour the caramel out of the pan to set up, be careful not to scrape the crystalized sugar into the caramel.

SEA SALT CARAMELS

1 1/3 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)

2 cups sugar
½ cup light corn syrup (Karo)
½ cup honey (I used Orange Blossom honey, because I had it in the cabinet)
6 Tbls. butter, cut into small cubes, about 24 pieces
1 tsp. vanilla extract (Madagascar real vanilla)
2 tsp. sea salt (if you have fleur de sel great, but I used Alessi coarse sea salt)

Dipping chocolate (Merkens)

1 tsp. sea salt for decorating

Line 8-inch square Pyrex baking dish with aluminum foil. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Place cream in large saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Stir in sugar, corn syrup and honey, continue stirring until mixture comes to a boil. Cook candy, swirling occasionally, until it reaches the temperature of 257 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer. Remove pan from heat and add butter, vanilla, and salt.  Stir until ingredients are incorporated; take care not to scrape sides where sugar has crystallized.

Pour into prepared pan. Scrap out caramel, but again, take care NOT to scrape areas where sugar has crystallized. Set at room temperature too harden. Lightly cover with waxed paper after it has cooled if you are letting it set overnight before you make your caramels.

Melt chocolate until it is smooth. Place waxed paper sheets on counter for dipped chocolates. Place sea salt in small container to be sprinkled (about 5-6 grains) on top of caramel.

Remove caramel from pan by using the foil ‘handles’. Carefully remove foil as it can tear. Cut caramel into 1/2- inch squares, dip into chocolate until coated. Lift out with dipping fork and place on waxed paper to dry.  Dip a few pieces (I can do about 10 without the chocolate hardening too much, but I’ve been doing this awhile) and then, sprinkle decoratively with salt. Let dry.

Take a sharp thin knife and trim excess chocolate puddling around base of caramels.  Place in paper cups or store in air tight container until ready for giving or eating! Enjoy!!

Polar Bear Poop . . . the recipe

I promised Lissa a recipe for Polar Bear Poop.  And I will post it at the end of this blog.  But first I will mention that you DO NOT WANT TO GOOGLE polar bear poop, otherwise you will get this:

--Do not take a sip of coffee!  Oh, heck, why not?  I don't have to clean your monitor--you do! Oops! Was my warning too late?

Okay, that was fun, wasn't it? :-) This was my very first video upload, too!  What a great way to start off the week with a bang!

Anyhoo, back to the topic of this blog. 

Every Christmas, one of my husband's employees makes these cookie/candy concoctions that she calls, Polar Bear Poop.  They are coated in white almond bark with a chocolate melt-in-your-mouth center--DELICIOUS!  But she is very secretive about her recipe.  One day about a month ago, I was trolling through my Farmville gifties (giving and receiving) and a small ad with a picture flashes on the sidebar.

It looked like Polar Bear Poop, but it had some boring name like, "OREO COOKIE BALLS".  Puh-leese!  Couldn't they come up with something better??  Heck, I like Jody's 'Faerie Farts' better than this!

Here's the recipe for . . . POLAR BEAR POOP

1-18 oz. pkg Oreo cookies
1-8 oz. pkg cream cheese--room temperature
White chocolate Almond bark  (@ 4 oz)

Process Oreos in food processor until fine (wet sandy texture). Add cream cheese to crumbs and blend until dough-like.  Chill mixture for 15 minutes.  Roll ball into bite-sized balls.  I use a small melon scoop to get a uniform size and flat bottom.  Chill balls 15 minutes.

Place sheet of waxed paper on counter (I go through TONS of waxed paper when I make candy!). Melt chocolate in microwave (depending on the amount check on it in 30 second intervals).  Using fork, dip balls (roll around until coated), lift on fork and tap off excess chocolate, scrap bottom of fork on edge of bowl, and slide onto waxed paper. 
Poop takes about 30 minutes to dry, so add sprinkles (or Oreo 'dirt') if desired.

A couple of comments here:  I REFUSE TO USE ALMOND BARK (which is made from vegetable fats and NOT cocoa butter).  Yes, I know white chocolate isn't "chocolate" per se, but it must have 20% cocoa butter to be called white chocolate, AND you can taste the difference between good quality white chocolate and 'almond barf  bark'.  The bark has less flavor and more of a waxy texture--BLECH!  

In the baking aisle of any grocery store, you can find white chocolate chips (Ghiradelli or Nestles are both good)--Buy them.  If you're going to make something, then put forth your best effort and make it taste good, too.

That's it for today!

Later, Peeps!