Dark Salty Caramels

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My caramels turned out kinda hard and sticky, not soft and chewy like I was hoping. Is this how they are supposed to be??? In addition, I actually pulled out a crown trying it (the rest ended up in the trash. Needless to say, I'm staying away from caramels from now on!!!

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I am making my second batch tonight. The batch I made three days ago is gone and the family is demanding more. The complex and wonderful symphony that happens in one's mouth is well described below. I will add only 1 This is the easiest candy recipe I have ever executed. All others have required some art and experience, but this just works, and 2 These are to those caramels you buy in the grocery store as a fine stout is to light beer. This isn't candy, it is astonishingly good eats.

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We made these tonight (3/13, not hard to make and they are absolutely astonishing! They are sweet and savory and--be warned--not your kiddy candy caramels. There is a depth to the flavor that belies description. Not all will like this because they are amazingly strong. But know that eating these was like seeing and understanding fine art for the first time. You taste the salt and the sugar and the soy and cream and the butter as if they were layers of ecstasy.

Ye of normal taste buds that yearn for normalcy put down your wooden spoon and run away! Those with passion and thirst for food adventure proceed!

Alton, you have outdone yourself!

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We made these tonight. The first batch was done as written. They were fabulous and so simple to make. Had a little trouble getting the parchment paper off though.

We melted some dark chocolate and dipped most of them. We just got a little chocolate on the top (kind of the moon pie, I mean marshmallow sandwiches we made a bit ago. Added a pinch of sea salt.

DISASTER! We were nearly out of light corn syrup and wanted to make another batch. We had 1/4 cup so we added 1/4 cup of light maple syrup. They tasted okay but we're thinking real maple syrup might be better.

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I have to say I was thoroughly disappointed in this recipe. I've been making caramels for more than 30 years and these were by far the worst I've ever tasted. I was skeptical when I saw 350 degrees on the recipe but decided to make it anyway because I was intrigued with the use of the soy sauce and sea salt. I was interested to see how they turned out. When it was all over I new I should have followed my own instincts, they tasted burnt. In my opinion 350 degrees is way too hot to cook caramels at any point. I make my caramels with the very same process as this recipe but never would I allow them to reach those kinds of temperatures Next time I will use my own recipe and try adding the soy sauce and sea salt.

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I made two batches of this recipe last night, both turned out terribly. Granted, the first was because I didn't know my candy thermometer got stuck at 255 degrees so the sugar burned, but the second I did perfectly. The caramels smelled great, looked great but they have a subtle burned flavor which ruined the whole batch. I used a thermometer that is known to be accurate and pulled them about 5 degrees early because I like a super soft caramel.

Anyone have an idea what I could be doing wrong?

Aside from my managing to burn the sugar, these caramels came out fabulously.

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Timothy ....how about using the Barley Malt in place of the Soy Sauce?
.....I bet that would work!!

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In Bakery class we did a recipe similiar to this. It's also really good if you temper some chocolate, dip the carmels in (after cutting them of course, before cutting skip adding the salt before the chocolate is dry then add the salt.
at timothy: the reason we add corn syrup in the first place is to help prevent crystalization. the cream of tarter also helps with this, the reason is why we don't really stir boiling sugar is also because i causes sugar to crystalize. I don't think marley malt would result in the same effect. you could definantly try it but i'm pretty sure you'd just have a big glob of crystalized mess. I do know though, that you can use "glucose" as a substitute for corn syrup. Infact most bakery textbook recipes prefer glucose over corn syrup. do remember that all carmel is, is sugar and water which isn't very healthy in the first place.

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My sodium channels are trooly drooling!
I wonder if swapping light corn syrup with an organic barley malt would be a viable alternative?
(I make my own barley malt from organic sprouted purple barley!

That would make these tasty treats quite a bit more healthy, don't you think!?
You know, beta-glucans, proteins & enzymes, polyphenol flavoniods, etc.

And maybe: add some hops to make Beer Candy Caramels!!!

Cheers :-q !!!

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This show and the one following were two of the greatest shows I have seen by Alton so far. They were aired on 3/8/2010 at 8 and 8:30 EST. Terrific comedy combined with great cooking facts. Alton has the perfect delivery, superb humor along with real technical information. In my opinion he is a genius......... And should be on air more often.