Fleur de Sel Caramels

For the past week I have had no light in my kitchen...which puts a pretty big damper on cooking. I rent an older condo that is big and I pay very little for, unfortunately that means things break quite often. So this week not much to report on the cooking front. I made some quick easy meals I could make by camping lantern light.

Today was the first day I have been at home AND had light. I thought I would make the best of it by making something I have always wanted to make, salted caramels.

Today for the first time I made Fleur de Sel caramels and they turned out (almost) perfect :) Fleur de Sel is a specialty salt I got from a local spice shop, Green Man Gourmet. Green Man is one of my favorite local shops in Jacksonville and I am there all the time.

I followed Ina Garten's recipe and for me 248 degrees was not high enough. I should have gone to probably 250 or a little more. My caramels were a little too soft, but still very good.

 

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon fine fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Prep the pan.

Line an 8-inch-square baking pan with parchment paper, allowing it to drape over 2 sides, then brush the paper lightly with oil.
Boil the sugar.
In a deep saucepan (6 inches wide and 4 1/2 inches deep), combine 1/4 cup water, the sugar and corn syrup and bring them to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil until the mixture is a warm golden brown. Don't stir -- just swirl the pan.
Heat the cream.
In the meantime, in a small pot, bring the cream, butter and 1 teaspoon of fleur de sel to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Finish the caramel.
When the sugar mixture is done, turn off the heat and slowly add the cream mixture to the sugar mixture. Be careful -- it will bubble up violently. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the mixture reaches 248 degrees F (firm ball) on a candy thermometer.
Fill the pan.
Very carefully (it's hot!) pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate for a few hours, until firm.
Cut the caramel.
When the caramel is cold, pry the sheet from the pan onto a cutting board. Cut the square in half.
Roll it up.
Starting with a long side, roll the caramel up tightly into an 8-inch-long log.
Cut into pieces.
Sprinkle the log with fleur de sel, trim the ends and cut into 8 pieces. (Start by cutting the log in half, then continue cutting each piece in half until you have 8 equal pieces.) It's easier to cut the caramels if you brush the knife with flavorless oil like corn oil.
Wrap the candies.
Cut glassine or parchment paper into 4-by-5-inch pieces and wrap each caramel individually, twisting the ends. Store in the refrigerator and serve the caramels chilled.