A candy thermometer is extra helpful when making these fun, yet sophisticated, candies. Deep, dark,
and slightly salty, these caramels should be savored.
Chocolate Salted Caramels
Servings
40 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 cups 470 ml canned coconut milk
- 1/2 cup 90 g semisweet chocolate
- 2 cups 400 g sugar
- 1 cup 235 ml light corn syrup
- 1/2 cup 112 g nondairy margarine
- 1 tablespoon 15 ml vanilla extract
- Flaky sea salt for topping
Instructions
- Grease or line with parchment a 9 × 9-inch (23 × 23 cm) baking pan. Or use a silicone baking pan; they work marvelously with caramels and don’t need any prep!
- In a 2-quart (1.8 L) saucepan, bring the coconut milk to a boil over medium heat and then stir in the chocolate chips until melted. Add the sugar and corn syrup and cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Add the margarine and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Once boiling, stop stirring! Let it continue to boil over medium heat, without stirring, until it reaches 240°F (116°C) on your candy thermometer. A good indicator to test for progress, if you are lacking a candy thermometer, is to dip the tip of a wooden spoon into the top of the bubbly mixture. The syrup should stick to the spoon when it is about done. Cooking time is approximately 35 minutes.
- If you think it’s time, take a teaspoon of the syrup and quickly drop it into a very cold glass of water; if it’s ready, you’ll be left with what looks like a caramel. This is referred to as the “firm-ball” stage. You will know it is ready when the ball is firm enough to allow you to remove it from the glass with your fingers and will flatten if you give it a little squeeze.
- When the mixture is at the right temperature, stir in the vanilla and quickly pour into your prepared pan. Let cool at room temperature for a few minutes and then transfer to the fridge for about 1 hour. Once firm, cut into 40 squares and sprinkle with sea salt. Wrap in waxed paper and store in the fridge.
The challenge with homemade caramel is that you really need to follow the recipe exactly and in this case, the corn syrup is an integral part of the recipe. There are many recipes online that don’t have corn syrup in them so maybe just search around until you find one that you like. Here’s an example: http://www.bakenquilt.com/2013/04/we-should-cocoa-salted-chocolate-honey-caramels/.
Is there a way to make this without corn syrup? I’m in Israel and it’s hard to get here, especially without the awful artificial vanilla flavouring.
not sure what i did wrong, but it turned out hard not chewy. Maybe I cooked it too long or didnt stir enough. Also there was a lot of butter that need to be drained off, and some was still left and harded in the fridge as well.