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hocolate caramels are the best, right? Pure heaven in a single bite! Yet, there is this strange phenomenon on the planet Earth, an entity that is never satisfied completely, that always yearns for more! It is the human being, of course. Why am I saying this? Well, guess what – if you want to improve chocolate caramels, to make them even more heavenly – use salt!
Great, now we can proceed! Remember how to make caramels? You just need a few ingredients, a saucepan, and a pan. Oh, I forgot the most important tool – you will need a sugar thermometer! Now, first things first – if you don’t already know – learn how to make sugar syrup, and there you will also find all the information about thermometers used in the kitchen. Long story short – I recommend buying a digital thermometer with a probe that can measure up to 200°C (392°F).
The other day my dear friend had a birthday. And is there a better gift than the homemade edible sweet? I don’t think so. Therefore, I pulled up my sleeves and made a batch of chocolate caramels. Naturally, my intention was to make a memorable present, so I’ve sprinkled my caramels with smoked fleur de sel [flœʁ də sɛl] I had in my cupboard for some time.
Fleur the sel, or “flower of salt” is a hand-harvested sea salt collected by workers who scrape only the top layer of salt before it sinks to the bottom of large salt pans. This salt has large flake-like crystals, and it has more mineral complexity than common table salt. When sprinkled on chocolate caramels, you get the combination of soft and sweet caramel flavor and crunchy salty flakes – mmm, irresistible! Now, that is a chocolate caramel extraordinaire I can tell you that! Try it for yourselves and let me know how it went!
Chocolate Salted Caramels Recipe
by:Tereza Alabanda,The Pastry Maestra
PRINT PDF (EN) ISPIŠI PDF (HR)Prep. time : 10 minutes
Cook time : 15 minutes
Ready in 25 minutes plus cooling
Level : Advanced
Ingredients:- Sugar 180g (6.3oz)
- Glucose syrup 180g (6.3oz)
- Cream 225g (8oz)
- Butter 30g (1oz)
- Dark chocolate 100g (3.5oz)
- Smoked salt flakes to taste
- Prepare 15cmx15cm (6″×6″) baking pan and line it with parchment paper. The bottom and the sides of the pan should be covered with paper.
- Put sugar and enough water to cover the sugar into a large saucepan, and put the lid on.
- When the syrup boils, remove the lid, add glucose syrup and continue cooking.
- Cook the mixture until it starts to caramelize. At that point heat up the cream.
- When your caramel gets nice amber color, remove the mixture from the stove and gradually add hot cream and butter. Stir until incorporated.
- Put the mixture back on the stove and insert the probe of digital candy thermometer into the mixture.
- Cook until the mixture reaches a temperature between 118°C (245°F) and 121°C (250°F).
- At that point remove the pan from the stove and add chopped chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts. Immediately pour the hot mixture into the prepared baking pan.
- Leave it to cool at room temperature.
- Place the cooled caramel slab on a cutting board and sprinkle some fleur de sel on top.
- Cut out uniform pieces using a sharp, oiled knife.
- Wrap each caramel in the cellophane, and store them in the fridge.
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