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Salted Butter and Chocolate Caramels

These are soft, chocolatey homemade butter caramels with a hint of salt linguering on my tongue…and I admit it without guilt or shame that I have been eating way too many of them..the ones in the picture were gone in one minute… oops…

I admit that I am a bit of a caramel, cooked sugar, freak and it is not uncommon that I play with it for fun or to enhance a dessert. I am particularly fond of salted butter caramel anything and I was in heaven when we visited Normandy and Brittany because caramels are everywhere (region’s specialty) Unfortunately, B. and I are out…we finished the last one a couple of weeks ago and we are starting to show some signs of "salted butter caramels deprivation"…and it got me thinking that there must be a tried and true recipe out there that I can cook up to save us.

I started searching familiar cooking sites and pondered on this one from Epicurious, but the 70/30 rate of success and disaster made me discard it (and there were some pretty awful reviews)… After some more research I found myself on Guillemette's blog again, staring at these several times a day.

Even if you are a novice baker/cook, I encourage you to try your hand at these, especially following the recipe below as it is simple and straightforward. Making homemade caramels is not complicated but some steps are important to follow:
– just like with any other confections or desserts, only use the best quality ingredients available
-always undercook your caramel, meaning do not let it get dark golden, because it will continue to cook once removed from the heat
– buy a candy thermometer, it is cheap and will make your life so much easier
-be patient. Depending on the humidity or heat in your house, your caramel might take longer to cook than what the recipe says…but always read your thermometer and don’t try to outsmart burning sugar…

Salted Butter and Chocolate Caramels, adapted from Guillemette:

100 gr. salted butter
3 gr. sea salt
50 gr. bitter sweet dark chocolate
20 ml. water
100 gr. light corn syrup
250 gr. sugar
200 ml. heavy cream

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over hot water bath and set aside. Heat the cream to lukewarm in the microwave also, and set aside.
In a heavy saucepan, set over medium heat, combine the water and corn syrup. Add the sugar and let it caramelize until it reaches a light golden brown.
Remove from the heat and slowly add the cream to the caramel. It will bubble like made but do not worry…it will not bubble over and things come down eventually.
Return the pan to the heat and add the butter and the salt. Let the mixture cook until a thermometer registers 118 C ( about 245 F). Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and stir until completely smooth.
Pour into a parchment lined 8X8 inch baking dish. Let sit overnight.
Unmold and cut squares the next day. Wrap them in parchment paper or candy foil if they last long enough to be packed up for guests.

Here are the converted measurements, thanks to Lisa from La Mia Cucina:

½ c. salted butter
½ tsp. sea salt
2 oz. bitter sweet dark chocolate
2 Tb water
1/3 c. light corn syrup
1 ¼ c. sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream

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Comments


Valentina March 24, 2007 um 9:28 pm

Helene, these caramels look gorgeous.The way you write about it I feel as if i can make them too.


Anonymous March 24, 2007 um 9:32 pm

Hmmm…i could taste your chocolate caramels just by looking at them! 😀


Anonymous March 24, 2007 um 10:08 pm

ahhhh quelle photo !!
n’est-ce pas qu’ils sont addictifs ces caramels ?!!
quant a moi je suis tjs en train de rever sur ton cheesecake, il est prevu pour la semaine prochaine !!


Alicia March 25, 2007 um 2:12 am

Oh helloooo chocolate!
Those look absolutely yummy, where are mine?!
*Sigh* Now I need a chocolate fix…


Anonymous March 25, 2007 um 5:57 am

Dangit!! I’m out of corn syrup but you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be picking some up tomorrow to make these! They look delicious!


Peabody March 25, 2007 um 10:37 am

Yum, yum, I am so making these. I too am a caramel freak.


Meeta K. Wolff March 25, 2007 um 11:41 am

WOAH! You’ve got me stuck to this one Helene. I am a sucker for caramel and chocolate combos. I have to try these.


Alanna Kellogg March 25, 2007 um 1:51 pm

It’s not very often I wish I wrote about something other than vegetables but NOW is it. Hmm. Maybe salted butter chocolate and zucchini caramels? Alas. I’ll just enjoy yours … 😉


Patricia Scarpin March 25, 2007 um 1:57 pm

Helene, these are luxurious!

They seem so soft and deliciously chewy…


Lis March 25, 2007 um 2:47 pm

I’m another salted caramel freak.. I can’t get enough (bad! bad!) 😀

You make me almost think I could do this in my kitchen.. maybe I will try to conquer my fears..

Beautiful job as always, sweetie =)


Brilynn March 25, 2007 um 2:53 pm

That’s it helene, you’ve convinced me, I WILL make these and they WILL turn out!


leonine194 March 25, 2007 um 6:32 pm

i love caramel, & yours look terrible!!


Anonymous March 26, 2007 um 3:45 am

omg i love caramels so much too. i never thought to make them myself now i just happen to have this recipe and some fleur de sel. who am i to ignore the signs!??


YumSugar March 27, 2007 um 7:28 pm

These look amazings. I am definitely going to try this recipe out.


Jenny March 29, 2007 um 12:11 pm

These look so good – I think I’ll have to get over my fear of candy making and try them myself!


fizban March 30, 2007 um 9:48 am

C’est vraiment delicieuse! Je n’avais pas corn syrup, j’ai mis du miel + mapple syrup au lieu de corn syrup.
Je devrais diminué la qantitéé du sucre. C’est tout! Mais, tout de meme, c’etait delicieuse..


Anonymous April 2, 2007 um 12:23 am

I just now saw your caramels after reading about Lisa’s attempts with your recipe, and I am loving the chocolate addition as well, I can see these as a great holiday to try recipe!


Veron April 2, 2007 um 2:25 pm

Helene, what size saucepan do you think you used for the recipe. Also when you use a candy thermometer to you let the bottom sit all the way down to the bottom of the pan?


Anonymous April 2, 2007 um 7:18 pm

These would be gone within seconds in my house too. They look good and the title…oh my. I can just imagine how good they are!


Anonymous May 8, 2007 um 12:21 am

I used your recipe on the weekend and the outcome was just delicious … though they disappeared so fast … next time I’ll double the recipe (I had hoped to have some left over to try your salted caramel brownies too!! 🙁 Next time!). The texture was my idea of perfect caramel – not chewy stuck in your teeth type nor gooey soft … but biteable and chunky!


african vanielje October 20, 2007 um 11:49 pm

Oh my goodness, I am such a retro sweet fan. I love things like caramels, nougat, fudge. I’ve got to try these. Thank you thank you


Anonymous January 25, 2008 um 6:08 pm

I just found this recipe and I decided to make them to put in the outrageous brownies. however, mine wouldn’t set up! They taste great but are still slightly liquid/mushy. Does anyone have any tips? This is the second time this has happened to me.


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