Apple Cider Caramels
These are Smitten Kitchen's famous Apple Cider Caramels. They are AMAZING! I stocked up on apple cider in the fall by going to Village Harvests with my friends Autumn and Jesse, just so I'd be able to make these anytime I wanted.
I've made just a few tweaks to my version of the recipe below - mostly, I found that I couldn't tell when the brown sugar had melted, and I burned it too many times, so I use all white sugar in my recipe.
I've made just a few tweaks to my version of the recipe below - mostly, I found that I couldn't tell when the brown sugar had melted, and I burned it too many times, so I use all white sugar in my recipe.
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4 cups apple cider
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon table salt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" chunks 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/3 cup heavy cream neutral oil for the knife Items: Candy thermometer |
1. Boil the apple cider until it reduced to 1/2 to 1/3 cup in volume and has become thick and syrupy. This usually takes 30 to 40 minutes. Pay closer attention to the syrup as it reduces - it can burn. Set aside while making caramel.
2. Line the bottom and sides of a 8 inch pan with parchment paper, sling-style, and grease generously with unsalted butter. 3. In a small saucepan, heat the sugar on medium high. Stir frequently but not constantly, to ensure that the melting sugar doesn't burn. Continue until all the sugar is melted and is a nice caramel color, but don't let it burn. 3. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the butter (it won't necessarily all incorporate). Then stir in the cream, apple syrup, cinnamon and salt. Be careful as it will steam a lot. 4. Return the pot to the stove and cook until the caramel reaches 252°F. Immediately pour into the prepared pan. Don't worry about all the bubbles; those will disappear as the caramel cools. 5. Cool until solid and cool to the touch. 6. Remove caramel block from the pan using the parchemnt sling. Cut the caramel into 1 inch squares using a lightly oiled knife, or, as I've found to be totally useful, a lightly oiled plastic pizza wheel and a bench scraper. Wrap each piece in a 4"x4" piece of parchment paper and store in a sealed container. |
Source
Notes: gluten-free!
What determines the consistency of caramel (and really of any candy) is the temperature to which you cook the candy syrup. I've found that the 252°F recommended by Smitten Kitchen makes a nicely chewy but not too hard caramel. I've also been off by a few degrees in both directions and gotten a caramel sauce and a hard caramel sucking candy. Both were delicious too :)
Also, make sure all of the sugar is melted; if any crystals remain, they will act as seed crystals, and rather than staying soft and chewy, your caramel will crystallize as it cools.
Notes: gluten-free!
What determines the consistency of caramel (and really of any candy) is the temperature to which you cook the candy syrup. I've found that the 252°F recommended by Smitten Kitchen makes a nicely chewy but not too hard caramel. I've also been off by a few degrees in both directions and gotten a caramel sauce and a hard caramel sucking candy. Both were delicious too :)
Also, make sure all of the sugar is melted; if any crystals remain, they will act as seed crystals, and rather than staying soft and chewy, your caramel will crystallize as it cools.