Caramels

As mentioned earlier I was on a sugar thermometer making mission. (To be honest I didnt actually use my thermometer for the jam I made, but I used the hell out of it for these!)


This is my first time making candy, although I have made marshmallows before (pictures and recipe to be posted soon), this was a completely different process, and quite a fragile one at that. 
I was really worried I was going to burn the sugar and end up with some black, sugary mess that no-one but myself would eat, because if you know me, you know that I DONT EVER WASTE FOOD!


I adapted this recipe from David Lebovitz's recipe for Salted Butter Caramels. Most of the adaptations were because I didnt have Fleur de Sel, so I kind of just missed that out!


Butter Caramels
(adapted from David Lebovitz)


Ingredients
3/4 cups (180ml) double cream
1/2 tspn vanilla essence/extract
1/2 cup (160g) golden syrup (I used maple syrup here as I'd run out of golden)
1 cup (200g) sugar (any kind will do. Brown would probably give a much richer taste)
4 tblespns (60g) unsalted/salted butter


Method
1. Line a 9-inch (23 cm) loaf pan with foil or greaseproof paper and grease.
2. Heat the cream with 2 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan with the vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt until the mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat, cover, and keep warm while you cook the syrup.
3. In a medium, heavy-duty saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer, heat the syrup with the sugar, and cook, stirring gently, to make sure the sugar melts smoothly. Once the mixture is melted together and the sugar is evenly moistened, only stir is as necessary to keep it from getting any hot spots.
4. Cook until the syrup reaches 310ºF (155ºC). To get an accurate reading while the syrup is cooking, tilt the saucepan to make sure the bulb of the thermometer is fully submerged in the syrup, tilting the pan if necessary.
5. Turn off the heat and stir in the warm cream mixture, until smooth.Turn the heat back on and cook the mixture to 260F (127C).
6. Remove the pan from the heat, lift out the thermometer, and stir in the cubes of butter,
until it’s melted and the mixture smooth.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and wait ten minutes, then sprinkle 1/4
teaspoon of the sea salt over the top. Set on a cool rack and let cool completely. Once cool,
lift out the foil with the caramel, peel away the foil, and slice the bar of caramel with a long,
sharp knife into squares or rectangles.
Storage: These caramels can be individually wrapped in cellophane or waxed paper. Once
cut, they may stick together if not wrapped. Store in an airtight container, and they’ll keep
for about one month.