Salted Butter Caramels


Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 0 minutes
Cuisine: French
Category: Confectionary
Salted Butter Caramels  - Recipe Image

Salt is a flavour enhancer. Including it in caramel recipes enhances the sweetness of the toffee flavour. Salted butter caramels are a traditional treat in Brittany – the North-West corner of France that has its own Gaelic language related to Cornish and Welsh. Not all salts are equal - see our Top Tip below for advice on choosing the right salt for your cakes and sweets.

Ingredients


For 18x15cm Tray / Frame - we set them in small foil trays.
175g Caster Sugar
180g Condensed Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Paste
70g Double Cream
150g Glucose
25g Salted Butter
10g (1/2 Tablespoon) Coarse Sea Salt

Method


This recipe requires heating sugar to a very high temperature. It is a good idea to get yourself completely organised before heating the mix.

  1. Grease the small baking tray with a small amount of vegetable oil.
  2. Place the sugar, condensed milk, and cream in a small pan over a medium heat. When boiling add the glucose.
  3. Stir continuously. When the temperature reaches 110°C add the butter. Continue to heat to 118°C and add the salt and vanilla. The mix will catch a little as you heat it. These are the milk solids undergoing the maillard reaction. Don't worry too much about the little brown bits that form, they add to the taste.
  4. Pour into the oiled tray and allow to cool to room temperature.
  5. Cut with an oiled knife or place in the freezer for 30 mins and then break into shards.

    These are best stored wrapped in waxed sweet wrappers (available online or use greaseproof paper). Otherwise they need to be stored in an air tight container.

TOP TIP

Sea salt and table salt are very different things. As a rough guide use twice the amount of sea salt in a recipe if it calls for table salt. Sea salt is a much better choice when flavour cakes and sweets. It adds a refined taste. Flavoured salts are a brilliant addition to this recipe. A great choice would be some vanilla sea salt such as that made by Halen Môn.

Salted caramel gets even better when you combine it with chocolate! Treat yourself to some salted caramel brownies.

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