Mystery Revealed…What’s In The Pot?

Yesterday, I flashed a quick post of this…

Did you see it? Okay, no worries! The important thing is you’ve stumbled upon it this go around, right? Now to unravel the mystery!

The answer to the $10,000 question (don’t you wish?) is… CARAMELS, home-made, delicious yummy for your tummy caramels!

This has become a favorite with my family. I lost my original recipe. Thank heavens for the ability to do Internet searching. Google is my 24/7 best-friend ready to answer my my questions! Don’t you feel that certain kinship, too? Google found a near identical version within seconds of pressing the enter key. Here’s the recipe I borrowed from cooks.com with a few slight chances.

HOMEMADE CARAMELS

1 stick butter

2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. Karo Syrup

1 c. sweetened condensed milk (I used Eagle Brand)

1 tbsp. white vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix first 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil, boil to soft ball stage (approx. 240 degrees) on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Can be put in 8×13 inch buttered (generous) pan.

Personal notes:

I doubled this recipe. Once I placed the finished product in the pan, I chilled caramels in the freezer until very firm. After removing caramels from the freezer, the candy was very hard. Not to worry, it warms up quickly.

At room temperature, I found cooking to 240 produced a soft caramel. This was too soft for me. However, if you have trouble eating chewy foods, then this may be a great alternative to the traditional jaw-pulling caramels. I have yet to try this, but I think at the current consistency these caramels may be good for dipping apple chunks into the softened candy. It should cling easier without dripping off much.

Keep in mind, if you maintain the 240 degree cook time to store the candy in the refrigerator or freezer to help it keep a firm consistency. In fact, keeping the candy in cool storage should keep the candy’s freshness. I normally do this with all home-made candies.

Next time, I plan to increase the cook time to make a more chewy caramel at room temperature.