This was my first time making homemade caramels. I've made toffee and made various caramel sauces but, never candy. My friend gave me her recipe for "non-sticky" caramel and I thought I'd give it a go. This recipe was not only easy - its tasty!! It's great for hostess gifts and treat bags! Enjoy! Diane
Homemade Caramel Candies Needed: *Candy Thermometer or Instant Read *9x13 buttered Pan *Wax paper or candy wrappers (3x3) Stirred in on heat: 1 Cup unsalted butter 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 14oz. 1 cup light corn syrup 2 cups brown sugar Stirred in off heat: 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon salt Directions: Lightly coat a 9x13 pan with butter and set aside. In a large saucepan over medium heat on stovetop melt together the butter, condensed milk, corn syrup and brown sugar. Make sure to use a rubber:silicon spoon as your making candy and the mixture will get very hot. Once your mixture has melted down, increase to a simmer and stir constantly until your mixture reaches "softball stage" on your instant read or candy thermometer ((between 235 - 245 F)) You will aim for the lower end range if you are at a higher altitude and aim for the higher end of range if you are a lower altitude. Once you hit "soft-ball stage" remove your mixture from heat and stir in the vanilla extract and salt. Pour mixture into the buttered 9x13 pan. Let cool on countertop completely before cutting into squares. Wrap in individual pieces of wax paper if preferred. I cut my wax paper into 3x3 squares to wrap caramels and twist ends. You can buy cellophane caramel candy wrappers online, which seem to be preferred as they won't tear when twisting. I varied the sizes of my caramels and my yield was approx 70 caramels. If you cut all yours into 1 inch squares, you'll get approx 115 in total.
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This is one of the handiest sauces to have on hand for the Holiday season and baking. It's easy to make and can always be frozen for future use. This is used easily as a fruit dipper, cake filling, cake glaze, stirred into coffee and always great with ginger and chocolates. This sauce does need refrigerated and used within 2 weeks or frozen. Enjoy! Diane
Dulce De Leche (caramel sauce) Ingredients: 3 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk 1/2 teaspoon Rodelle Vanilla Bean Paste 1 Pinch of Salt, optional 4 (half pint) canning jars with screw bands and lids Directions: Open the condensed milk and pour evenly into the 4 half pint canning jars. You will be leaving about a 1 inch of headspace. Place canning lids and bands on to finger-tip tightness. Set the filled canning jars in a slow-cooker large enough to cover with at least 1/2" of water over the top of canning jars. Set cooker to Low and let cook 8-12 hours. You want the white condensed milk to turn a caramel brown. Once the jars are light brown; turn cooker off and carefully remove the jars. Let jars cool at least 4 hours before placing into refrigerator. You cannot 'Can' traditional caramel sauce for safety reasons (the cream and the butter are unsafe for shelf stability.) That being said, you can turn fruit purees into caramel sauces for CANNING!! This recipe is for apples but, pears, strawberries, blackberries and other fruit purees all work great. Enjoy! Diane
Ingredients: 1 lb. ripe apples, I used Fuji 1/2 teaspoon finely milled sea salt 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar water Yield: 2 half-pints Peel, core and chop the apples. Place them in a blender with the salt and 2 tablespoons water. Puree until smooth. You should have about 1 & 1/2 cups puree. Combine the sugar with 3/4 cup of water in a saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the sugar reaches 250°F and darkens to the color of a tarnished copper penny. Do not stir the cooking syrup; instead, holding the handle of the pot, gently swirl it to move things around. This mixture is extremely HOT! Do NOT touch spills or drips! Once the syrup has reached 250°F, remove the pot from the heat and carefully stir in the fruit puree. It will bubble, spatter, and appear to seize up, so take care! Stir the puree into the sugar until it is a smooth sauce and return the pot to the heat. Continue stirring and cooking until the apple caramel sauce reaches 218°F Remove the caramel from the heat and funnel into the prepared jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, or according to your altitude. Note: If your caramel sauce gets too firm to drizzle easily, place the jar in a pan of lukewarm water and slowly bring it up to a simmer, until the sauce relaxes enough to be pourable. Recipe Courtesy of Mrs Wages Photos by Canning and Cooking at Home What a better way to start off the day then making something with apples. I like the idea of this recipe because it has many uses! You can thicken more and use as a pie filling with pecans, warm and pour over french toast or pancakes, drizzle onto or into your Fall or Holiday desserts and even top onto baked brie as a wonderful warm appetizer. I likes that this "jam" wasn't SUPER gelled and had just the right amount of "give" - just thick enough to consider it 'jam' and thin enough to scoop and use in so many other dishes! As a bonus, your house smells wonderful when making this! Enjoy - Diane. **updated New & Improved! 9/2017
The Best Caramel Apple Jammy Stuff Ingredients: 6 cups diced peeled apples (1/8-inch cubes) 1 cup apple juice, preferred (or water) 1 Tablespoon lemon juice 1 package powdered fruit pectin ** 2 cups white granulated sugar 2 cups packed brown sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 dash of vanilla bean paste *optional Directions: Combine apples, apple juice *or water and lemon juice in a large sauce-pot or dutch oven. Simmer, covered for 10 minutes. Stir in all but, 1/4 cup of sugar and bring to a full rolling boil, stirring frequently. Add in pectin mixed with remaining sugar. Return to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring frequently. Once thickened, remove from heat; stir in cinnamon, nutmeg & vanilla. Taste to see if jam needs any more cinnamon or nutmeg. Pour hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head-space. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a Boiling Waterbath Canner 5 minutes, adjusting for your altitude. (add one minute for every 1,000 foot rise in elevation) Yield: 6 half-pints. Recipe Note: ** I like using (Pink Box) Sure Jell Premium Fruit Pectin in this recipe. You can add 1/2 teaspoon of butter to reduce foaming. TRY DIFFERENT FLAVOR PROFILES: Apple Pie Jam I - use all white sugar: Cinnamon, Nutmeg & Allspice (or Mace) Apple Pie Jam II - use all white sugar: Ginger & Cardamom Salted Caramel Jam: Kosher Salt, to taste & Vanilla Bean Paste Recipe adapted from: NCHFP Apple Preserves Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home |