Sea Salt Caramels
If you’ve never had freshly made caramels before, they taste so much better than the ones you can buy at the store. These are chewy and sweet, with a touch of sea salt for balance.
Many think that sea salt with caramel is just a stupid trend.
Like macarons.
Or cupcakes.
But let me tell you, when I put these in the fridge without the salt, my husband would not eat them.
I raved about them and ate one after the other, but he wasn’t having any of it. The response I always got was: eh…they’re okay.
After I finished making them and sprinkled the sea salt on top, we had to FIGHT over them (note to self, in the future do not put salt on the caramels so I can hog them all to myself).
Sea salt makes such a difference in balancing out the sweetness and also bringing out the caramel and vanilla flavors, so definitely give it a try. It doesn’t have to be salt caramels, just give it a little sprinkle of a flaky sea salt or fleur de sel and it will do wonders.
Here’s how to make these:
Combine sugar, water, and corn syrup in a saucepan and cook until amber colored. Add the cream and butter.
Cook the caramel to the soft ball stage and pour the caramel into a parchment lined dish so the caramel can harden up. Refrigerate and cut into squares. Enjoy!
Sea Salt Caramels
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper smeared with a little oil (doesn’t matter what kind).
- Place the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a saucepan and cook over medium high heat until amber colored (approximately 10 minutes). Don’t ever stir the caramel (you risk crystallizing the caramel), just swirl it gently in the pan if you need to move it around a bit.
- In the meantime, heat the cream, butter, and salt together until melted, either in a saucepan or in the microwave.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat, and slowly and carefully pour in the cream mixture, being aware that the mixture will bubble up a lot (wear oven mitts if you’re concerned).
- Return the pan to medium heat and cook for about 10 more minutes until it reaches 248 on a thermometer (the soft ball stage), adding the vanilla extract right before it reaches 248. Pour into the parchment lined dish and refrigerate for a few hours until hard enough to cut into squares. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
20 Comments on “Sea Salt Caramels”
I don’t recall how I came across your website, but your description of your caramels sounded so good (and because I had some leftover heavy cream that I didn’t want to go to waste), I decided to make them. Having never made caramels before, I followed your recipe exactly. I was a little nervous about the temp waiting for the water and sugar mixture to change color. When it went over 250, I just told myself to follow the rest of the recipe and try again another day. Once I added the cream & butter mixture (slowly), the temp decreased plus it was a nice color, so I thought well, maybe this will turn out okay. Once it hit temperature, I poured it in the prepared pan. My next dilemma was do I refrigerate it immediately, or let it cool off a bit. I let it cool for a very short time before sprinkling it with sea salt then refrigerating it. Was that correct? Anyways, to make a long story short, they were perfection; absolutely incredible! I wrapped them up in little gold wrappers and packed some off as gifts. You are my new best friend! I can’t wait to try your other recipes. Thanks so much.
Lorene, that’s great! See, you just have to have more faith in your abilities, sounds like you made the caramel perfectly!
The caramels look delicious with sea salt on the top!
looks good!
I love salty caramels, the French have been doing this for centuries. Also chocolate with salt, mmmhmmm….
I hope you don’t mind but I am grabbing this recipe.
I have never made caramels myself, but I do remember strolling into a candy shop when they were making caramel apples and the aroma was unforgettable. Your caramels do look delicious and have a professional looking appearance! Also, thanks for including the video for the cake, I enjoyed it.
i have never had homemade caramel, but I do remember strolling into a candy shop when they were making caramel apples-the wonderful aroma is unforgettable! Your caramels do look delicious-very professional looking. Also, well done on the video for the delicious cakes!
I agree adding a bit of salt to something sweet enhances the flavour. it also does it the other way around thats why in most of my savoury dishes I add sugar.
I love the caramel and salt combination.. it just really heightens the flavors! I just wanted to tell you how impressed I was with your video. You are so confident and natural in front of the camera.. you have a real presence that is rare! It was a pleasure to watch and I can’t wait to try those cakes! xo Smidge
Happy Valentine’s Day Joanne…!!!
I’ve tried making them once but mine turned out more like fudge! Yours look divine, shiny and the specks of sea salt make them even more inviting!
Happy Valentine’s Day, Joanne!!! These caramels look absolutely delicious, and the sea salt really tops them off…literally. 😉 haha
I absolutely LOVE her recipe for caramels!! That’s how I fell in love with fleur de sel!
I love homemade caramels. These look awesome with the sea salt on top!
Now you know how to keep all the caramels for yourself…
LOL!!!
Love these