Soft Salted Caramel Candy

Soft Salted Caramel Candy

For those with a sweet tooth here is a delicious recipe for Soft Salted Caramel. Growing up, on very special occasions my mom, Nonna Verena, would surprise us by making caramel candy.  After talking with her she said that the ingredients were simply whole milk, sugar and butter. What a treat for all of us kids when the kitchen was filled with the aroma of caramel.  She then would meticulously cut them into small squares and give us a morsel of delicious goodness.  Although we still want to make Nonna Verena's caramel candy version, here is a delicious version that we have made.

 Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup - 255 grams sugar
• 2 1/2 Tbsp - 45 grams corn syrup
• 1 stick plus 2 Tbsp - 155 grams diced butter at room temperature 
• 1/2 cup - 120 grams heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 tsp - 1.5 grams fleur de sel (salt flakes) for sprinkling on top of Caramel
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Equipment:

• 9x13 inch pan or jelly roll pan
• parchment paper
• a brush for oiling the parchment paper
• wooden spoon
• we used the Fontana Pizza e Cucina wood-fired oven

Directions:

1. Place the sugar and the corn syrup in a pan on medium heat. It would be best to add a thin layer of sugar at a time to the pan instead of pouring it all in at once as we did. 
2. Let each layer of sugar dissolve and gently caramelize. 
3. With the help of the spoon you can drag the white sugar into the melted sugar. Make sure NOT to stir aggressively as the sugar will tend to crystalize. 
4.  With a candy thermometer, check the temperature of the melted sugar. Allow it to reach 350° F and no higher. Once caramelization happens the melted sugar can quickly burn and turn dark and very bitter in no time.
5. Place an additional sauce pan on the heat source and warm the cream with 35 grams of butter and a nice pinch of salt. Allow the cream to gently simmer.  Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
6. Once the sugar reaches 350° F, gradually pour in the warmed cream to the melted sugar, making sure it does not splatter or boil over. Continue gently stirring.
7. Remove from heat source and begin adding small bits of butter at a time while continuing to stir. The mixture will become beautifully smooth.
8. Once all of the butter is incorporated and the texture is smooth and creamy, return to heat source and allow the mixture to reach 250° F. To get an accurate reading of the temperature it is helpful to tilt the pan in order for the thermometer tip to be well submerged.
9. For the molding of the caramel place parchment paper in a jelly roll pan, or a baking pan as we have done in the video (9x13 inch) Make sure to oil the paper so the caramel will not stick to it.
10. Carefully pour the caramel into the pan over the oiled parchment paper. 
11. Sprinkle the leftover fleur de sel (salt flakes) over the caramel. 
12. Allow to cool and rest for at least two hours before cutting. 
13. Once cooled, remove the caramel from the pan and cut into bite sized squares or into whatever shape you desire. You can also wrap each piece in some wax paper squares as shown in the video. Enjoy!

Buon Appetito!