You may not know this, but I can be a very stubborn person.
I decided I wanted to make caramels with sea salt for the holidays, and tracked down a pretty straightforward recipe. Or so I thought. It turned out to be quite the kitchen battle, so to speak. But 4 batches, 72 hours and pounds and pounds of cream, sugar, butter and corn syrup later… I won. And lived to tell the tale.
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First, I tried this recipe. While on the stove, everything was looking good. I didn’t spill any scalding caramel on my arms, and the color was perfectly amber. But after chilling in the fridge, it turned into a strange mixture of hardened crystals and liquid in the pan, so I let it sit out and come back to room temperature. Half of it liquified and half stayed solid, so I poured it into a jar. One of these days I’ll have an ice cream social and serve my homemade caramel sauce.
I tried making a second batch using the same recipe, subbing goat milk for the heavy cream (because goat milk caramels are delicious!). This one didn’t even come together, and went straight into the trash… a good thing, since somehow the bottom of the candy thermometer broke off in the saucepan.
On my third go at it, I decided to try Mark Bittman’s recipe from How to Cook Everything. But… at this point I was running out of heavy cream, so I used two parts cream to one part goat milk. It never turned the proper consistency while cooking, although it did firm up in the fridge. Sadly it turned right back into liquid when I set it on the counter to cut… so, now I have two different kinds of caramel sauce.
On Day 3 of The Great Caramel Expedition, I tried again. (In case you’re keeping track, I’ve now gone through 9 cups of sugar, 5 cups of heavy cream.) After restocking at the grocery store, I tried Bittman’s recipe again, to a tee. You combine almost all the ingredients (no back-and-forth pouring of hot liquids, like the first recipe) and is only supposed to cook on the stove for 20 minutes. However, it ended up taking almost two, staying at frustrating 220˚ (it’s supposed to reach 245˚) forever.
You’re lucky you didn’t walk into the kitchen while I was in there. Two words: crazy eyes.
And lucky for me, I had a batch of chocolate chip cookies to keep me company while I paced around the kitchen swearing and talking to myself. (Somehow the cookies didn’t turn out quite right either, and these are a whole ‘nother story.)
Finally, when hour two was coming to a close, it happened. As the color and temperature lined up, I cried tears of joy. (And, yes, if we’re being real, those tears may have been sugar-induced.) I poured the caramel into a baking dish and stuck it into the fridge, and after it cooled, sprinkled it with this snazzy smoked sea salt I picked up from Trader Joe’s. Very fancy!
Some wars are not worth fighting, but this caramel had to be conquered. But I’m pretty sure I won’t be making it again for a long, long time.
Thankfully, I have some ridiculously easy and fail-proof (I promise) recipes to share with you soon. And they’re definitely gift-worthy. In the mean time, though, will someone come clean up the kitchen?
Are you a calm when you cook or do you stress? Have you had any recent recipe flops?
Wow, you have perseverance. I would have given up, for sure.
I’ve never made any kind of candy, but from what I’ve ready with checking the temperature and everything, it’s a hell of a lot of work. I’m curious to see the recipe. And they sound delicious.
I just made caramels for the first time ever the other day too! I struggled with getting the temp up too but it turned out well even though I’m not sure it actually got to 245.
I just did the 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar and 1.5 cups heavy cream. They are definitely chewy so I’m going to try hard next time to get it a little hotter next time.
Oh goodness, I DEFINITELY wouldn’t have the patience to make those caramels, hahaha – I commend you!
Ah, you are so ambitious! Making carmel just scares me. I just made a salted carmel thumbprint cookie for Christmas but I used the jar of carmel with sea salt from TJ’s. No way I was going to attempt my own sauce.
So glad you made it through
. I bet the end product is awesome!!Baking usually keeps me calm, but cooking can make me nutty!
Oh what a nightmare! I’m sure that accidental caramel sauce will taste amazing though! I try and stay calm but usually I’m a total stress head!
I’m so impressed you kept trying! When something fails I usually get really angry and then eat it myself because I’m too embarrassed to share. You’re final result looks incredible!
I guess that the *fourth* time really is the charm and that practice really does make perfect.
Congrats on conquering the art of making caramels! Fleur de sel caramels are one of my favorite candies, and I’m sure they taste much better when they’re homemade.
It was great meeting you Thursday night!
Oh my gosh…I feel your pain. I get such bad anxiety when I fudge up a recipe, but good for you for stickin through it!
Recently my bf was really pumped about trying this crock pot recipe for a thai curried chicken dish. He excitedly bought all the ingredients, but the day he wanted to make it, he was not staying at my place the night before, meaning he couldn’t get it all ready in the morning to put into the crockpot before work that day. I volunteered to chop the veggies, brown the chicken etc, and put it all in the crockpot before I left for work that morning, so when he came over that night, dinner would be ready. When I came home that evening, i realized I NEVER PLUGGED THE CROCK POT IN. The raw chicken had been sitting there all day, obviously not fit for eating. I felt terrible for ruining the dinner he was so excited about. Luckily, he laughed it off and ordered a pizza. (What a peach!) I actually put the ruined dinner in the fridge for a few days, so I could have a chance to mourn the loss before I tossed it in the trash. So sad.
those look intense to make! i always love making things that people normally buy and then gift them. everyone is always super impressed, making me feel wonderful, of course. for instance, I made gumdrops [via bakerella!] and they are the most adorable things ever. super easy, too! i’m going on a decorating spree today with gingerbread houses and probably making more gumdrops because they’re just that fun [although laborious!] to make.
Have you ever made cinder toffee? Seriously rewarding- especially if you then coat said toffee in dark chocolate
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2010/sep/24/sugar-honeycomb-cinder-toffee
Maybe you could try and make your own goat’s milk ice cream and swirl the plethora of caramel sauce you have into it?
My most embarrassing recent kitchen blunder was when I had to bring a three course meal to be plated at my brother’s wedding- held in a 4 star hotel (as they couldn’t cater for my veganism), and the panisse that I was planning to present to the chef as part of my first course never fully set fin readiness for pan frying. Hence the elegant fried gold rectangles envisioned became, too late to rectify, a big, yellow blob of goop. Pretty mortifying- I think I lived up to the chef’s misconceptions about veganism in that instant!