Рецепт Salty Vanilla Bean Caramel Chews
Do you ever get to feeling downright irrascible in your desire to conquer a dish/ingredient/style of cooking? Like you’ve been personally challenged? I’ve been feeling that way about caramel. I recently made these caramel shortbread bars that were *to die for* –when you could pick them up intact that is. I had no idea why the caramel ended up so soft (even when refrigerated). I followed the recipe exactly–which annoyingly enough did not include many temperatures.
I think from here on out I will not attempt any caramel recipes that do not include exact temperatures–at least not until I understand caramel better.
Anyway, feeling challenged, I went looking for caramel recipes. Something where caramel was the entire point, and might help me figure caramel out. All of this is kind of ironic because as much as I love caramel in some guises, I am not one of those people who loves anything caramel. It can be too sweet for me.
So when I saw Alice Medrich had a recipe for Salty Caramel Chews in her Pure Dessert I knew I had a winner. Medrich’s recipes are precise and well-explained; she was exactly what I needed. The recipe is a variation on her Vanilla Bean Caramel Chews–and I used vanilla beans instead of the extract alternative (although I also used some extract), hence the name of my recipe.
The caramel chews were actually very easy–once someone gave me a temperature instead of a color! The hardest thing about them is staring at the thermometer while the sugar is boiling and then wrapping the finished individual chews. I used a tad more salt than she calls for because I really like my caramel salty.
I am submitting these caramel chews to The Domestic Goddess‘s Sugar High Fridays, hosted this December by Cherrapeno, and the theme of which is Holidays. These caramels are perfect–for me anyway–because only the holidays could have induced me to make them and leave them on my table, tempting me all day long!
Salty Vanilla Bean Caramel Chews
Very closely adapted from Pure Dessert
- 1 cup golden syrup (such as Lyle’s Golden Syrup)
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 t fine sea salt
- 2 cups heavy cream
- seeds from 3 vanilla beans
- 1 t vanilla extract
- 3 T unsalted room temperature butter
- high quality coarse sea salt, such as fleur de sel, Maldon, or Penzey’s grey sea salt, to taste, for sprinkling
Line a 9 inch square baking pan with foil, making sure it overhangs on all sides and does not tear when you are inserting it. Butter the pan thoroughly (I brushed melted butter with a silicone brush to make sure I got all the cracks). Set aside.
Combine the golden syrup, sugar, and fine salt in a large (3-4 quart), heavy saucepan (stainless steel or copper, for example). Place the pan on medium heat, stirring with a wooden or silicone spoon. Also keep a pastry or silicone brush in a bowl of water next to the stovetop–brush down the sides of the pan to wash the sugar and syrup from the sides. When the edges of the sugar mixture start to bubble, cover the pan and leave for 3 minutes.
In the meantime pour the 2 cups of cream into a small sauce pan with vanilla seeds. Place it on low heat. Keep an eye on it–if it start to boil, turn off the heat and cover it.
After the 3 minutes, uncover the pan and wash down the sides of the pan once more. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan–do not let it touch the bottom–and let the candy mixture boil. Do not stir or disturb it. Keep an eye on the thermometer–as you do this more often, you will get a sense for which parts go fast and which go slow. For example, I know from marshmallows that 220 to 245 can take a while. But 260 to 300 seem to go by pretty fast, so definitely do not wander away. You are looking for 305 F–I think mine hit 310, so you should be ok if it goes a little over.
When the mixture reaches 305 F turn off the heat and stir in the butter chunks. Gradually pour in and stir the hot cream and vanilla seeds. It may bubble and steam dramatically, so be careful. Adjust the heat–it will vary by burner–so that it boils, according to Medrich, “energetically but not violently”. Stir until any syrup at the bottom of the pan is dissolved into the mixture. Continue to boil, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 245 F at which point begin to stir constantly until the mixture reaches 260 F for softer chews or 265 F for firmer chews.
At 260 or 265, remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla extract, stirring to mix. Pour the hot–be careful!!– caramel into the prepared pan. Let it set for 4-5 hours, or as long as overnight.
Sprinkle the sea salt over the top of the caramel and then use clean hands to press the salt lightly into the caramel so that it sticks and does not brush off. Remove the caramel, using the foil overhang, from the pan. Press a square of parchment paper lightly into the top of the caramel and then invert it. Slowly and carefully peel the foil away from the caramel. Sprinkle sea salt onto the back side as well, pressing it once again lightly into the caramel. Use an oiled knife to slice a 9 by 9 grid–i.e., you will get 81 1-inch caramels. Wrap each one into cellophane or wax paper.