Caramel Easy DIY

Easy Caramel

Adapted from: food.com

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup light Karo syrup

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Combine all ingredients.

Cook in microwave on high for 6 minutes, stirring every two minutes.

Stir and pour into a parchment lined dish.

Let cool.

Cut, wrap in wax paper and store in air tight container.

http://whatsfordinner-momwhatsfordinner.blogspot.com/2011/12/easy-caramel.html

Six Minute Caramels

Six Minute Caramels
SOURCE: Melody Murray

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup light Karo syrup
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
Directions:

1 Combine all ingredients.
2 Cook 6 minutes, stirring every two minutes.
3 Stir and pour into lightly greased dish.
4 Let cool.
5 Cut, wrap in wax paper & store in an air tight container

Clove Rock Candy

Clove Rock. I am in Ireland and you can get them in most sweet shops or major chains here.

If you like I will give you a recipe. 

Ingredients
5 cups granulated sugar,
2 cups water,
1 1/2 cups clear corn syrup,
2 tablespoons food coloring (your color choice),
1/2 - 1 teaspoon flavored oil (your flavor choice),
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar,
Candy thermometer.

Prep It

Dust a marble slab with confectioner’s sugar.

(If you do not have a marble slab, chill a sheet pan and top with parchment paper before dusting).

 This will prevent the candy from sticking to the surface and to each other later.

Heat It Up

Place sugar, water, and corn syrup in a heavy pan over medium heat and stir together briefly.

When mixture begins to boil, stir again and continue to boil until a candy thermometer reaches 320ºF /160ºC (the “Hard Crack Stage”).

 Remove from heat.

Time to Add Some Color!

Quickly stir in food coloring and flavored oil until blended.

Immediately pour on to marble slab.

Let cool for 5 minutes.

Dust a little more powdered sugar over top of candy.

And, Lastly...

Break into small pieces by striking with a meat mallet or other heavy tool until you have small pieces. Put in a glass jar to keep fresh.

Homemade Peppermint Patties

Homemade Peppermint Patties
yield: 36 patties

• 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp softened butter
• 2 tsp peppermint extract
• 2 tbsp cream
• 12 oz Mellting Chocolate Wafers

In a mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, butter, peppermint extract, and cream. Beat them with a paddle attachment until the mixture comes together.

Don't be alarmed if it looks like this at first--it will be dry and crumbly as you start mixing it.

Turn the mixer speed higher and beat until the candy comes together and is light and creamy. When you touch it, it should be soft but not at all sticky. If it seems sticky, add a little more powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, until it's no longer sticky. It should be very stiff, like Play-Doh.

Scrape the candy paste out onto a long piece of cling wrap, and form it into a thin tube, about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. Wrap it well in cling wrap and twist the ends so that it stays in place.

This step is optional, but it's a nice trick I've learned. To keep your candy round on the bottom, cut a slit in an old cardboard paper towel tube, and put the candy inside. This will help keep the bottom from flattening as it sits in the refrigerator. This also works for rolls of cookie dough!

Chill the candy until it is very firm, about 45 minutes. Once firm, use a large sharp knife to slice off rounds about 1/4 inch thick. You should get about 36 candies from this recipe.

Melt the Melting Chocolate Wafers in the microwave. Melt in 30-second increments, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating.
Use a fork or dipping tools to dip a patty completely into the melted coating. (I like to drop it in, put the fork under it, flip it upside down, and then flip it again so the fork is on the bottom and bring it up out of the coating. I think the flipping method is easier than pushing the candy down into the chocolate and then fishing it out again.) Let the excess coating drip back into the bowl.

Set the dipped peppermint patty onto a piece of parchment or waxed paper, and repeat the dipping process with the remaining peppermint patties. If they get too soft to dip, chill them briefly in the refrigerator until they're firm again.
Let the patties set at room temperature. The great thing about using Melting Chocolate Wafers is that they always set quickly at room temperature, and always produce a nice shiny coating! If desired, you can trim any uneven edges or "feet" from your candies once they've set.

Store your homemade peppermint patties in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks. These are so tasty, I doubt they'll last that long! You can also use them in baking recipes, just like you would store-bought patties. Try chopping them up and adding them to brownies, cookies, or cupcakes.

Another fun variation is to change the flavor of extract to make different flavored centers. Try vanilla, almond, or coconut! You'll find that the creamy texture and chocolate coating goes well with everything.
http://www.ohnuts.com/blog/2013/02/homemade_peppermint_patties_re_1.html

Here are a few more great candy recipes from the Oh Nuts blog:

Almond Coconut Candy Bars


Dulce
De Leche Cups


Pepita Caramels


http://www.ohnuts.com/blog/2013/02/homemade_peppermint_patties_re_1.html

Caramels Homemade

Step 1. Assemble the ingredients. Butter, white sugar, brown sugar, light corn syrup, vanilla, sweetened condensed milk, coarse sea salt, chocolate chips, canola oil, chopped nuts, & decorating sprinkles (not pictured)


Step 2. Cook the caramel.

• Combine the sugars, corn syrup, vanilla, butter, and sweetened condensed milk in a microwave proof bowl. The bowl should be at least 2 quarts to allow for the caramel to expand as it cooks.
• Cook it in the microwave on full power for 6 minutes (for soft & chewy texture) or 7 minutes (for firm yet still chewy texture), stopping and stirring thoroughly twice during the cooking time (every 2-3 minutes).* 

*TIP: ADJUST COOKING TIME FOR YOUR MICROWAVE WATTAGE
The recommended cooking times in this recipe are based on my 1100 watt microwave. If yours has a different wattage, you will most likely need to adjust the cooking time accordingly. (I found my microwave wattage on a label that is visible on the inside of the microwave.) Because microwaves vary, there may be some trial and error involved to determine exactly the correct cooking time. Click here for a cooking conversion chart for different wattages that I found online. I don't know if the chart is perfectly reliable, but it may give you some guidance in making adjustments.
Your caramels should be chewy and easy to eat--not a challenge to your dental work! If they turn out too hard, you need to reduce the cooking time. If they're too soft, increase the cooking time.
  
Step 3. Pour the hot caramel into a mold. I'll demonstrate 2 options.
OPTION 1 -- A Baking dish

• Line an 8x8 baking dish with aluminum foil, making sure the foil extends up the sides. Coat the foil with cooking spray.
• Pour the hot caramel into the dish and put it in the refrigerator until it is firm enough to cut, 40-60 minutes.

view 8x8 baking dish on Amazon

  

• Remove from the fridge. The firmed up caramel will have taken the shape of the dish, so you can lift by the foil edges to remove the entire piece at one time. Peel off the foil.

  

• Use a large knife to cut the caramel into whatever size you prefer. The photos below illustrate cutting 40 pieces or 24 pieces. If the cooking spray has made them too oily, blot caramels with a paper towel.

Hint: Put the caramel on a sheet of parchment or waxed paper for easier cutting and removal later. Otherwise, it may stick to the cutting board.
  
OPTION 2 -- Use mini ice cube trays for molds 

• After microwaving the hot caramel, let it cool for 10 minutes so that you don't melt the plastic tray. Coat ice cube trays with cooking spray. Spoon caramel into the ice cube sections. I used a small scoop to simplify the task. One batch of caramel yielded 30 mini cube caramel candies.
• Refrigerate until firm.

Click here for Amazon link to mini ice cube trays.
Click here for Amazon link to small scoop.

  

• Remove from fridge and flip trays over, twisting and tapping until caramels fall out. I placed them on a piece of parchment paper to prevent sticking. If the cooking spray has made them too oily, blot caramels with a paper towel.

  
Step 4. Sprinkle generously with coarse sea salt. Press it in gently.

Step 5. Wrap individual pieces in parchment or waxed paper and twist the ends. Store in fridge or at a cool room temperature. Parchment paper worked the best for me--the caramels release easily without sticking. 4" x 3" paper rectangles are the perfect size for wrapping 40 lof these log-shaped caramels cut from an 8" x 8" square pan. Store in fridge or at a cool room temperature.

Love that sweet & salty combo. Yum!

Update about shipping: I had a question about shipping these in the comments section, and I thought this was worthy of mention here so you don't miss it. If you want to ship the salted caramels, I recommend the plain, log-shapped ones pictured above, individually wrapped in parchment paper and twisted on the ends. The wrapping helps the caramels keep their shape and keeps them from sticking together. I don't recommend shipping the decorated caramels illustrated below. They may lose their shape if they get too warm during the shipping process.
Here are some optional ways to add different flavors, colors, and textures to your caramels.
Drizzle with melted chocolate.
Add 1 tablespoon of canola oil to 1 cup of chocolate chips and microwave at 20 second intervals, stopping to stir each time, and continuing to cook just until melted--approx. 60 seconds total.
  
Drizzle on the chocolate with a spoon, or use a squeeze bottle. An alternative to the bottle is to put the melted chocolate in a plastic ziploc bag, push the chocolate down to one corner, twist the top of the bag, snip a small hole in the corner of the bag, and squeeze the chocolate out through the hole.

Click here for Amazon link to squeeze bottles.

While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle on some coarse sea salt, if desired. Here are the ice cube tray caramels:

And, here are caramels formed in the 8x8 baking dish and cut into 24 pieces:

Add decorating sprinkles.
You can add decorating sprinkles in holiday or any theme colors.

Add chopped nuts.
Add nuts for some crunch and yum. These taste like turtle candies.

Make a variety.
Using the ice cube tray molds makes these uniform in size and shape. Add a variety of toppings and arrange them in a single layer in a small box. They'll look like they came from a candy store!

Storage. Caramels are sticky and easier to remove if arranged so they don't touch each other and are stored on parchment or waxed paper. Wrap individual caramels in parchment or waxed paper or place in single layer on top of parchment/wax paper in covered container. Store in fridge or at a cool room temperature. They will lose their shape if they get too warm. Refrigerated caramels are too stiff to eat and should be brought to room temperature before eating.
Caution about paper candy cups: I tried inserting the caramels into 2 different kinds of paper candy (mini muffin) cups with mixed results. The caramels stuck to one kind and were impossible to remove without making a mess; but they released fine from the other. These foil ones worked the best of the ones I tried. Cutting small pieces of parchment paper to set them on works even better.
Here's the best part...biting into one of these gooey, chewy, creamy treats. SO, SO GOOD. Too good to be this easy!

http://www.theyummylife.com/Microwave_Caramels