The Best Homemade Caramels

Name: The Best Homemade Caramels
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 60 Caramels
Ingredients: 2 2 cups heavy cream; 2 ½ 2 ½ cups granulated sugar; ½ ½ cup light corn syrup; ½ ½ cup water; 6 6 tablespoons butter; ¼ ¼ teaspoon coarse; 1 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (see note)

User Reviews

4.9

192 reviews

Excellent

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Total Time
1 hr
Servings
60 Caramels
Course
Dessert, Others
Cuisine
Canadian

The Best Homemade Caramels

Iris Warren

Report

Bring something special to the table with this well-loved recipe.

Share:

I Made This!

144 people made this

Print

38 people printed this

Save this

115 people saved this

Ingredients

Servings

2 2 cups heavy cream
2 ½ 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ ½ cup light corn syrup
½ ½ cup water
6 6 tablespoons butter cut into tablespoon-size pieces
¼ ¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (see note)

Add to Shopping List

Instructions

Butter the bottoms and sides (get into the corners, too!) of a 9X9-inch square baking pan. (Alternately, you can line with parchment and butter the parchment - this may make it easier to pull the slab of caramels out of the pan after they have cooled in order to cut and wrap them.) Set aside.
Heat the cream in a saucepan or in the microwave until steaming. Keep warm.
For the caramels, in a large, heavy-bottomed pot (at least 5- or 6-quarts), stir together the sugar, corn syrup, and water, taking care to not splash the mixture up the sides of the pot.Clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan.
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat WITHOUT STIRRING or moving the pan. As it begins to boil, fill a cup with water and use a pastry brush to wash down the sides of the pan so there are no granules of sugar sticking to the sides of the pan (you probably won't need to repeat this after the sides have been well-cleaned). This prevents the caramel mixture from crystallizing in later steps.
Cook until the boiling sugar mixture registers 325 degrees F on the thermometer, about 15-20 minutes (for darker but still chewy caramels, continue cooking the sugar mixture - I've gone as high as 345 for super intense, dark caramels; beware the next step will cause much more steaming and bubbling the higher you cook this initial sugar mixture).
Slowly and carefully pour the warm cream into the caramel. It will bubble and produce a lot of steam! Add the butter and salt. The mixture will bubble high during this step but will go down after a few minutes.
Begin stirring the caramel with heatproof rubber spatula with a flat top (a flat edge does better at preventing the caramel from burning than a rounded edge). Avoiding scraping the edges of the pan, and continue to cook, stirring constantly and slowly, until the mixture reaches 245 degrees F, about 10-15 minutes (you can go as high as 248 degrees F for a firmer, but still chewy, caramel, or take the caramel off the heat earlier for a softer caramel; 245 is perfect in my book).
Off the heat, stir in the vanilla without scraping down the sides of the pan - scraping the bottom of the pan is fine (this would be the time to add other flavorings/color).
Immediately pour the caramel mixture into the prepared pan.Let the caramels cool completely. I use a large, metal spatula to peel the whole slab of caramel out of the pan and onto a cutting board.
Cut into squares using a sharp knife or bench scraper, wrap, and store in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to two weeks.

Notes

Vanilla: for a vanilla bean version, see this recipe.
Double Batch: this recipe can be doubled (for a 9X13-inch pan of caramels). Use a larger pan so it doesn't boil over. A double batch will take longer to come to temperature at each step.
Time: the exact time for each step will depend on how low or high you moderate the heat - as well as if you have a gas or electric stove.
Elevation: I live at 2,400 feet elevation which is where this recipe has been tested. If you live at higher or lower elevation, you may need to adjust the final cooking temperature 2 degrees for every 1,000 feet elevation difference (subtracting for higher elevation and adding for lower elevation). For instance, if you live at sea level, you may need to add 4 degrees to the final cooking temperature. If you live at 5,000 feet elevation, you may need subtract 4 to 5 degrees from the final cooking temperature. A lot depends on the desired firmness/chewiness of the caramels, so there is some leeway in the exact number of degrees for cooking the caramel. In my experience, a difference of 2 to 4 degrees won't make or break a caramel recipe, so don't stress too much about this. Just keep track of the outcome and make adjustments in subsequent batches as needed.

Nutrition Information

Show Details

Serving 1 Caramel Calories 69kcal (3%) Carbohydrates 11g (4%) Protein 1g (2%) Fat 3g (5%) Saturated Fat 2g (10%) Cholesterol 11mg (4%) Sodium 16mg (1%) Sugar 11g (22%)