By Claire Saffitz
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes, plus several hours’ cooling
- Rating
- 4(250)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Despite being primarily made of sugar, these soft caramels are wonderfully complex in flavor, as the sugar is cooked to a deep amber before fresh dairy is added and the mixture cooked again. Infusing the cream with coffee is optional, but it lends a pleasant bitterness to the candies.
Featured in: 3 Fun, Festive Candy Recipes That Are Worth the Effort
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Ingredients
Yield:32 caramels
- Vegetable oil spray
- 1½cups/360 grams heavy cream
- Seeds scraped from ½ vanilla bean (pod reserved)
- ⅓cup/34 grams whole coffee beans (optional)
- 2cups/400 grams granulated sugar
- ¼cup/85 grams light corn syrup
- 4tablespoons/57 grams unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- Flaky salt, for finishing (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Prepare the pan: Lightly coat the inside of an 8-inch square pan with vegetable oil spray. Line the bottom and sides with parchment paper, smoothing to eliminate air bubbles, then lightly spray the parchment paper. Set the pan aside.
Step
2
Heat and infuse the cream: In a small saucepan, combine the cream, vanilla seeds and pod. Place the coffee beans, if using, inside a resealable bag and crush them with a rolling pin until they’re broken into bits. Add the coffee to the cream mixture. Bring the cream mixture to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting and keep the mixture warm while you make the caramel.
Step
3
Make the caramel: Fill a glass with water, place a pastry brush inside and set next to the stove. Combine the sugar, corn syrup and ⅓ cup/142 grams water in a large, heavy saucepan and stir gently with a heatproof spatula over medium-high heat to dissolve the sugar, about 3 minutes. Let the mixture come to a boil and use the wet pastry brush to brush down the sides of the saucepan and dissolve any stuck-on sugar crystals. Boil the mixture without stirring, occasionally swirling the saucepan gently and brushing down the sides of the saucepan if you see crystals forming, until the syrup takes on a pale golden color and the bubbles become large and slow to pop (a sign that the water had boiled off and caramelization is near), about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to medium and continue to cook, keeping a close watch and swirling the saucepan frequently, until the bubbling has mostly subsided and the mixture is very fluid and a deep amber color, 4 to 7 minutes.
Step
4
Immediately remove the saucepan from the heat and add the butter a few pieces at a time, stirring with a heatproof spatula (this will halt the cooking; be careful, the caramel will sputter). Gradually pour the cream mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into the saucepan with the caramel mixture and stir until the caramel is completely smooth. (Discard the solids in the strainer.) Stir in the kosher salt.
Step
5
Cook the caramel again: Return the saucepan to the heat and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan and cook, occasionally scraping the bottom and sides of the saucepan with the spatula, until the mixture reaches 250 degrees for softer caramels or 255 degrees for firmer caramels. Immediately remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
Step
6
Cool and cut the caramels: Allow the caramel mixture to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then sprinkle with flaky salt (if using). Let the caramels cool completely at room temperature, which will take several hours. Before cutting the caramels, refrigerate the pan for 15 minutes, then use the parchment paper to lift the slab out of the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Use a chef’s knife to cut the slab in quarters in one direction and in eighths in the other to make 32 bar-shaped caramels. Wrap them individually in parchment paper, waxed paper or foil candy wrappers.
- The individually wrapped caramels, stored in an airtight container, preferably in the refrigerator, will keep for 1 week.
Ratings
4
out of 5
250
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Cooking Notes
Nercon5
The instructions are mostly great, and I can tell that the flavor will be fabulous. A few notes: 1/3 cup of water is 71 grams, not 142; 1/2 tbsp extract in place of vanilla bean is financially less risky; and I’d recommend straining infused cream into measuring cup before even making caramel. I had to do this anyway, as my cream, set over lowest heat, bubbled over when I went to re-watch video (thanks 142!); I made up the difference with crème fraîche, as I was out of cream and feeling plucky.
Rebeka Joy
I gave this a go last night, and ended up w/some lovely toffee, rather than a caramel. I have made candy since I was a girl in the 50's. Both my candy thermometers are off, so I will blame that, and try again tonight. I tried to re-calibrate to no avail...Loved the coffee infusion, but may go a bit less as a bit strong for my taste and add more vanilla, which I adore. And, yes that grams weight of the water was off, please advise!
Hilary
I cooked this to 255, Claire’s preferred temperature per the video. After cooling Icouldn’t cut them they were so hard. Otherwise they are very tasty, but terrible on teeth and dental work. I’m going to try again today cooking to firm ball instead of hard ball and used my instant read thermometer to double check my candy thermometer. I used vanilla paste instead of a bean because it’s cheaper and what I had. Simmering the cream, coffee, and vanilla paste was worth the hassle, it smelled so good!
home cook
My grandmother’s caramel recipe, that has been my staple at Christmas for years, calls for boiling the caramel to 245 degrees for firm candy. Since 250 degrees resulted in a toffee-like consistency for some folks, consider shooting for a lower temperature.
Jodi
Second batch was successful! If you watch the video in the article link above (bottom of description), she takes it off the heat at a medium amber. For me, this meant the first hint of amber color.
Lindsay
To avoid buying whole coffee beans for just this recipe and vanilla bean I used 11g of ground coffee and about a tsp of vanilla extract.I used a coffee filter to drain out the grounds after it simmered but before starting the caramel. After straining the grounds out I put it back on low heat to maintain the temperature. The coffee flavor still comes through nicely. Also overdid the temp on the caramel and it was rock hard. A few bursts in the microwave got it back to a lovely texture.
Lee
Hard caramels? Altitude matters! It’s a crucial consideration in any candy making, one I learned the hard way. Water boils at 212 (Fahrenheit) at sea level, and that number drops by about 1 degree for every 500 feet above sea level. That means you need to lower the target temperature according to your elevation. (I wish we knew the altitude where this recipe was tested.) I’m at about 5,300 feet, where water boils at about 202F, and I lower everything by 10 degrees. It has always worked.
M
I've never made candy or caramel, but I was really inspired by the detail in Claire's video. I made these exactly as described following along with the video, with one exception, I infused the cream with 4 tbsp of loose leaf earl grey tea as I didn't think my children would like the coffee flavor. They came out *perfectly* and the only problem is that I can't stop eating them. Super smooth and chewy but still quite soft and melt-in-mouth. Amazing texture.
Sam
Spicy Margarita CaramelsFor the full recipe (8x8 pan)- no coffee or vanilla- replace 4tsp of the cream with 2tsp each fresh lime juice and juice from pickled jalapenos- once final mixture reaches 250-255F, remove from heat and quickly stir in 2tbsp mezcal or tequila mixed with the zest of 2 limes and ½ tsp of cayenne (can substitute ⅛ tsp of the cayenne for chipotle powder if using mezcal)- after setting, sprinkle with flaky salt, tajin, and candied jalapeno (optional)
Aerin
I thought this recipe turned out great! I made the recipe exactly as written EXCEPT I did not use the coffee and I did add toasted pecans, because yum. I had to account for our altitude difference (almost 3000 ft here) but the caramels were perfect. Chewy and soft at room temp but didn't lose their shape when you held them. Another time I would cut smaller pieces, and dip them in tempered chocolate... *swoon*.
DSB
These are positively sinful and turned out brilliantly. I added some cocoa to the cream mixture with extra vanilla bean paste in place of a bean. Cut the cooled caramels into squares as the rectangle suggestions seemed too big.
iris
These were UNREAL good and turned out so well. Don’t skip the coffee infusion - the ratio is just enough that it’s a suggestion of coffee while the caramel and salt still take center stage.
Becky
Has anyone tried to make these further ahead than 1 week? Do they freeze well for longer?
mark e
For making sea turtles: Increase saltCook first to lighter color than dark amber Second cooking heat to 255
Lee
Hard caramels? Altitude matters! It’s a crucial consideration in any candy making, one I learned the hard way. Water boils at 212 (Fahrenheit) at sea level, and that number drops by about 1 degree for every 500 feet above sea level. That means you need to lower the target temperature according to your elevation. (I wish we knew the altitude where this recipe was tested.) I’m at about 5,300 feet, where water boils at about 202F, and I lower everything by 10 degrees. It has always worked.
Stephanie Davis
This was my first go at making caramels, and found the instructions easy to follow. I used the volume measurements without problems. I infused both vanilla bean and pod and crushed Seattle Strong coffee beans in the cream. The flavor is fabulous! Now to learn how to cut the squares evenly next time to make them pretty...and do a better job wrapping the pieces. This recipe is a keeper!
RLDB
Most folks who live at altitude already know this but I learned the hard way when I moved to Denver from sea level. Reduce your targeted cooking temp 2 degrees for every 1000 feet over sea level.
Red
Cooking to 250 degrees was perfect- soft and chewy but still good structure!
Heather
Cooked these to 253 and they were perfectly chewy! The candy making process was pretty simple if you have experience making caramel from scratch. However individually rolling them took forever, I think I cut mine smaller I had about 50 candies in an 8x8 pan. If you can get ahold of candy foils I would recommend it! Everyone is raving though they are a great adult style candy, the bitterness from the coffee is a nice addition.
cathleen
If caramel is too hard when it sets, melt it again and add more cream.
home cook
My grandmother’s caramel recipe, that has been my staple at Christmas for years, calls for boiling the caramel to 245 degrees for firm candy. Since 250 degrees resulted in a toffee-like consistency for some folks, consider shooting for a lower temperature.
M
I've never made candy or caramel, but I was really inspired by the detail in Claire's video. I made these exactly as described following along with the video, with one exception, I infused the cream with 4 tbsp of loose leaf earl grey tea as I didn't think my children would like the coffee flavor. They came out *perfectly* and the only problem is that I can't stop eating them. Super smooth and chewy but still quite soft and melt-in-mouth. Amazing texture.
Miz
Where is the video link? I’ve looked multiple times and can’t find it!
MC
Below the photo there is a link: "Featured in: 3 Fun, Festive Candy Recipes That Are Worth the Effort"
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