Soft Caramels Food

SOFT CARAMELS

Steps:

• Lightly butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Combine the water, sugar, vanilla bean, condensed milk, corn syrup, and butter in a heavy-bottomed 4-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant rubber spatula. Continue stirring while cooking until the batch reaches 245ºF. This is a good estimation of the required temperature. When the thermometer reads 240ºF, begin testing the caramel using the spoon technique.
• Spoon Technique: Place a small bowl of ice water next to the saucepan of cooking sugar. As the sugar boils, spoon small samples of the syrup out of the saucepan and immerse the spoon holding the syrup in the ice water. Allow the syrup to cool for several seconds, then remove the spoon from the water. Take the cooled sample of syrup between your thumb and forefinger and squeeze it to evaluate the consistency. The cooled piece on the spoon should be firm but not hard when the caramel is properly cooked.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the salt. Pour into the prepared pan and remove the vanilla bean using a fork. Allow to cool completely to room temperature, at least 2 hours. Remove the sheet of caramels from the pan. Cut into the desired size pieces using a sharp chef's knife. The pieces may be dipped in tempered chocolate or compound coating, or may be wrapped individually in cellophane or waxed paper if they are not going to be used within a day or two.

AUNT EMILY'S SOFT CARAMELS

Steps:

• Butter 13x9-inch pan; set aside.
• Combine all ingredients except vanilla in heavy 4-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 15-20 minutes or until butter is melted and mixture comes to a boil.
• Continue cooking 25-30 minutes or until candy thermometer reaches 244°F or small amount of mixture dropped into ice water forms a firm ball.
• Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Cool completely. Refrigerate 1 hour.
• Cut into 1 1/2x1-inch pieces; wrap candies in plastic food wrap. Store refrigerated.

SOFT CHEWY CARAMELS

Steps:

• Line a 15x10x1-in. pan with foil; grease the foil with 1 tablespoon butter. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt remaining butter. Add the brown sugar, milk and corn syrup. Cook and stir until candy thermometer reads 250° (hard-ball stage). , Pour into prepared pan (do not scrape saucepan). Cool completely before cutting.

SOFT CANDY CARAMELS

Steps:

• Line an 8-inch glass square baking pan/dish with foil extending the foil over the edges of the pan.
• Generously coat the foil with cooking spray; set aside.
• In a heavy 3-quart saucepan melt 1 cup butter over low heat.
• Stir in brown sugar, condensed milk, corn syrup and maple syrup; bring to a bowl stirring gently.
• Cook over medium heat stirring often until a candy thermometer reaches 235 degrees (or for a firmer caramel cook to 240 degrees F).
• As soon ar the temperature reaches 235 or 240 degrees immediately remove from heat, and stir for 1 minute or until the mixture is smooth and no longer bubbling.
• Quickly pour the mixture into prepared pan.
• Allow to stand for 3 hours or until cool.
• Lifting the foil at the edges of the pan remove the caramel square out of the pan.
• Using a buttered knife cut into 1-inch squares.
• If desired wrap each piece with coloured plastic wrap.

SOFT CARAMELS

Steps:

• Heat sugar, syrup, & salt to boil in a VERY large stew pot (non-stick pot with no flaking is best). Please note that if you plan on doubling this recipe, you need to use a commercial size stew pot because the ingredients double in size as the temperature rises. Add cream VERY slowly. Cook stirring almost constantly to 239°F (or until you get just to the point where a little drizzle of cooled caramel gently rubbed between 2 fingers forms into a ball). This takes approximately 3-5 hours. Let cool a few minutes to help prevent sticking to the cookie sheets. Add nuts now if desired. Pour onto 3-4 buttered cookie sheets (cookie sheets should be buttered lightly so as not to end up with greasy caramels). Once cooled completely, flip cookie sheets over to release sheets of caramel (you may have to use a metal spatula to pull the sheet of caramel out of the cookie sheet). Use pizza cutter (if you have cooked them perfectly) or scissors (if you have slightly overcooked them to a stick-to-your-teeth texture) to cut into bite-size pieces. Each piece can now be dipped in chocolate or wrapped "as is" in small squares of wax paper (or candy wrappers).
• Note: This recipe also works great for caramel sauce -- just don't quite heat it to 239°F Hard toffee candies can be made if you heat it above 239°F Therefore, even if you mess up on your attempts to make SOFT caramels, you have SOMETHING left over for your efforts.

SOFT CHOCOLATE CARAMELS

Steps:

• In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, stir the sugar and corn syrup together until the sugar is completely moistened. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and cook, without stirring, until it turns a very light caramel color, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and very slowly pour the cream into the hot sugar (be careful-it will bubble up) and stir to combine. Return the mixture to medium-low heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until a candy thermometer inserted in the pot reads 238 degrees F, about 12 to 15 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate and butter until smooth. Pour the mixture into a greased 8-by-8 inch square baking dish. Allow to cool completely (at least 2 hours) before cutting into 1-inch squares.
• Chocolate is tempered so that after it has been melted, it retains its gloss and hardens again without becoming chalky and white (that happens when the molecules of fat separate and form on top of the chocolate). There are a variety of ways to temper.
• One of the easiest ways to temper chocolate is to chop it into small pieces and then place it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time on high power until most of the chocolate is melted. Be very careful not to overheat it. (The temperature of dark chocolate should be between 88 and 90 degrees F, slightly warmer than your bottom lip. It will retain its shape even when mostly melted. White and milk chocolates melt at a temperature approximately 2 degrees F less because of the amount of lactose they contain.) Any remaining lumps will melt in the chocolate's residual heat. Use an immersion blender or whisk to break up the lumps. Usually, chocolate begins to set, or crystallize, along the side of the bowl. As it sets, mix those crystals into the melted chocolate to temper it. A glass bowl retains heat well and keeps the chocolate tempered longer.
• Another way to temper chocolate is called seeding. In this method, add small pieces of unmelted chocolate to melted chocolate. The amount of unmelted chocolate to be added depends on the temperature of the melted chocolate, but is usually 1/4 of the total amount. It is easiest to use an immersion blender for this, or a whisk.
• The classic way to temper chocolate is called tabliering. Two thirds of the melted chocolate is poured onto a marble or another cold work surface. The chocolate is spread out and worked with a spatula until its temperature is approximately 81 degrees F. At this stage, it is thick and begins to set. This tempered chocolate is then added to the remaining non-tempered chocolate and mixed thoroughly until the mass has a completely uniform temperature. If the temperature is still too high, part of the chocolate is worked further on the cold surface until the correct temperature is reached. This is a lot of work, requires a lot of room, and makes a big mess.
• A simple method of checking tempering, is to apply a small quantity of chocolate to a piece of paper or to the point of a knife. If the chocolate has been correctly tempered, it will harden evenly and show a good gloss within a few minutes.
• From Dessert Circus, Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make at Home, by Jacques Torres.

CARAMELS

Steps:

• Combine the maple syrup, brown sugar, cream, condensed milk, corn syrup and salt in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the mixture reaches 245 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Take from the heat and stir in the butter. Pour into a 6-inch square baking pan lined with parchment and allow to cool and set about 3 hours.
• Take the caramel from the pan and, using a very sharp knife gently sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, cut the caramels into squares and wrap in wax paper or candy wrappers (see Cook's Note). Store in a cool dry place.

CREAMY SOFT CARAMELS

Steps:

• Line a 9-in. square pan with foil; grease the foil with 1 teaspoon butter and set aside. In a large saucepan, combine the sugars, salt and remaining butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir in corn syrup; return to a boil. Remove from the heat; slowly stir in milk. , Cook and stir over medium-low heat until a candy thermometer reads 238° (soft-ball stage). Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Cool. Using foil, lift candy out of pan; cut into 1-in. squares. Wrap individually in waxed paper.

SOFT 'N' CHEWY CARAMELS

Steps:

• Line a 13x9-in. pan with foil; grease foil with 2 teaspoons butter. Cube remaining butter. In a Dutch oven, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1 cup cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Slowly stir in remaining cream. Cook over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 250° (hard-ball stage), stirring frequently. Remove from the heat; stir in cubed butter and vanilla until well mixed, about 5 minutes. , Pour into prepared pan. Cool. Remove foil from pan; cut candy into 1-in. squares. Wrap individually in waxed paper; twist ends.

SALTED SOFT CARAMELS

Steps:

• Arrange 30 paper or foil candy cups on a baking sheet. Spritz each cup with cooking spray; set aside. In a small heavy saucepan, bring the cream, butter and salt to a boil; keep warm., In a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup; cook until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Bring to a boil; cook, without stirring, until mixture turns a golden amber color, about 4 minutes., Gradually stir in the cream mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 247°., Remove from the heat. Pour into prepared liners (do not scrape saucepan). Sprinkle with salt. Let stand until firm, about 2 hours.

FAT FREE SOFT CARAMELS

Steps:

• Lightly spray an 8 x 8-inch pan with non stick butter or regular cooking spray and set aside.
• In a medium sized heavy bottomed sauce pan combine sugar with corn syrup, butter flavoring and condensed milk. Stir mixture over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to medium and continue to cook stirring frequently until mixture reaches 234 to 238 degrees on candy thermometer. (soft ball stage) Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and pour immediately into prepared pan.
• Cool to lukewarm and mark in 1-inch squares using a knife sprayed with cooking spray.
• Spray a teaspoon lightly with cooking spray and scoop 1 heaping teaspoon of caramel onto a 4 x 5-inch square of waxed candy papers. Roll paper jellyroll fashion and twist ends to seal. Store in a cool dark place for several weeks.

ONE INGREDIENT SOFT CARAMEL

Steps:

• For an easy caramel topping or dip, simply heat Eagle Brand using the following directions. For safety reasons, heating the unopened can (an old cooking method) is NOT recommended. Instead use one of the following methods.
• OVEN METHOD; Pour 1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk into 9 inch pie plate. Cover with aluminum foil; place in larger shallow pan. Fill larger pan with hot water. Bake at 425° for 1 1/2 hours or until thick and caramel colored.
• STOVETOP METHOD; Pour 1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk into top of double boiler; place over boiling water. Over low heat, simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until thick and caramel colored. Beat until smooth.
• MICROWAVE METHOD; Pour 1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk into 2-quart glass measuring cup. Cook on 50% power (medium) 4 minutes, stirring briskly every 2 minutes until smooth. Cook on 30% power (medium-low) 20 to 26 minutes or until very thick and caramel-colored, stirring briskly every 4 minutes during the first 16 minutes and every 2 minutes the last 4 to 10 minutes.
• CAUTION: NEVER HEAT UNOPENED CAN
• NEVER let the water level get down to the top of the can (s), because this could cause the can (s) to explode.