Saturday, January 22, 2011

Caramel Catastrophe

I want to apologize in advance for the lack of pictures in yesterday's and today's posts....I keep forgetting to take them! =D

Anyway, I wanted to take a break from bread-baking. My dad wants to make nut brittle, but we weren't sure if the corn syrup we have here (sort of halfway between light and dark) would work. So I decided that I would find a recipe that specifically called for light corn syrup, use ours, and see if it worked. If it did, I figured that we would also be able to make brittle. So, in my search, I found a caramel recipe. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I'm not a huge caramel fan....unless its salted, but everyone else in my family enjoys it. So I thought that I'd halve the recipe and try it out. Before I continue with my story, I'll post the recipe, because it does taste pretty good:

Soft n' Chewy Caramels (copied from Taste of Home)

Ingredients



  • 2 cups sugar

  • 1 cup light corn syrup

  • 2 cups half-and-half cream, divided

  • 1 cup butter, cubed

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Directions



  • Line a 13-in. x 9-in. pan with foil; butter the foil. Set aside. In a Dutch oven, combine the sugar, corn syrup and 1 cup cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Slowly stir in remaining cream. Cook over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 250° (hard-ball stage), stirring frequently. Remove from the heat; stir in butter and vanilla until well mixed, about 5 minutes.

  • Pour into prepared pan. Cool. Remove foil from pan; cut candy into 1-in. squares. Wrap individually in waxed paper; twist ends. Yield: 2 pounds.


Well, I got started, and realized that I could not, for the life of me find my mom's candy thermometer. So I figured that I'd use the cold water test and guesstimate when the candy was done. Have I mentioned that I've never actually made candy before? Because I haven't. And I didn't cook it long enough. So now we have caramel goo....tastes fine, but it cannot be wrapped up in cute little wax paper squares. Its sitting in the fridge, and my sister eats it with a spoon. =D So maybe I'll just stick with non-candy related recipes for a while......

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that today we're going to hang out at home for a while....which is just fine by me!

Hope you all have a wonderful, restful weekend!
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12 comments:

  1. Victoria (District Chocoholic)January 22, 2011 at 3:24 AM

    If you want to try caramel again, see tips from David Lebovitz:
    http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/01/how-to-make-the/
    and
    http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/01/ten-tips-for-ma-1/

    And check out his recipe for salted butter caramels:
    http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/01/salted-butter-caramels/

    ReplyDelete
  2. fitchocoholicJanuary 22, 2011 at 4:03 AM

    Awesome! Thanks for the tips!!!!
    The flavor of my caramel is pretty good, and it ended up being sort of like a caramel apple dip, but I really wanted the caramel candies!
    Those salted butter caramels sound amaaaazing and right up my alley! =D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kristina @ Life as KristinaJanuary 23, 2011 at 2:03 AM

    Ahhh sorry about the fail-it always stinks when that happens! But for caramel-i'd try again, haha.
    Have a great wknd!

    ReplyDelete
  4. pursuitofhealthfulnessJanuary 23, 2011 at 3:29 AM

    I've never attempted caramel. That's one of those intimidating things to me!

    ReplyDelete
  5. fitchocoholicJanuary 23, 2011 at 3:32 AM

    Well, at least it tastes good....we seem to have no problem eating it out of a bowl...=D
    I'll definitely try again though!
    Hope you have a great weekend, too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. fitchocoholicJanuary 23, 2011 at 3:33 AM

    It is pretty scary!!!! The temperature of the caramel is really super essential....it can be undercooked one second and burnt the next! I'll probably try making it again though, and with an actual thermometer!

    ReplyDelete
  7. lindsayJanuary 23, 2011 at 4:13 AM

    Texture is a pain sometimes, as long as it tastes good is what really matters. Am I right?
    ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lisa @Thrive StyleJanuary 23, 2011 at 6:56 AM

    Well, caramel goo sounds like a pretty yummy mistake to make :)

    I've never made candy---and I'm afraid to start because I may not be able to stop.

    I often forget to take pics too---and sometimes I just don't feel like it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. EricaJanuary 23, 2011 at 10:44 PM

    What a fun experiment :) As long as it tastes good- that is what matters!

    ReplyDelete
  10. fitchocoholicJanuary 23, 2011 at 11:45 PM

    Exactly! =D

    ReplyDelete
  11. fitchocoholicJanuary 23, 2011 at 11:47 PM

    You are definitely right! =D

    ReplyDelete
  12. fitchocoholicJanuary 23, 2011 at 11:47 PM

    At least I didn't burn it....its sitting in the fridge right now waiting to be consumed with apple slices. I mean, if you add fruit, it has to be healthy, right?
    Candy is a dangerous thing to start making isn't it? Once you're good at it, then you just keep on making it!!!! =D

    ReplyDelete

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