We went crazy with caramel-making last month. I always do something elaborate for Valentine's Day, and I'd been toying the idea of making candy for some time when I found a link to this, and started thinking how fun it would be to wrap up a hundred caramels while watching TV. And it was! The wrapping was probably my favorite part, actually. Repetitive, mindless, and rewarding. How could it not be rewarding. You've got a huge pile of hand-wrapped sugary homemade goodness at the end.
I got the recipe from How to Cook Everything, or, as we've dubbed it, Mark's Book o' Recipes. It's astonishingly simple to make, as long as you have a couple of somewhat specialized items: a candy thermometer (obtainable at most grocery or hardware stores, I believe) and corn syrup. We made the chocolate variation of the recipe, and halved it.
Then made it three more times.
Chocolate Caramels
Makes more than 1/2 pound.
Time: About 20 minutes, plus time to cool.
3/4 c. heavy cream
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. light corn syrup
pinch salt
3/4 t. vanilla extract
Line a small baking pan (we used a loaf pan) with parchment paper.
Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a small saucepan and turn the heat to low. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves, then cook, stirring only occasionally, until the mixture measures 245 degrees F (a small piece of it will form a firm ball when dropped into a glass of cold water, but the thermometer is an easier and surer test).
Stir in the vanilla and pour into the prepared pan. When the mixture has cooled to room temperature, remove the block of caramel from the pan and use a sharp knife to cut it into small squares. Wrap each square in waxed paper or plastic wrap. These keep for weeks, but are best eaten fresh.
