Saturday, December 13, 2014

We had some chocolate chips in the pantry, but I didn't have all the ingredients needed to make fudge. So, rather than run to the store, I decided to invent a recipe for salted chocolate caramels. These caramels make a delicious, salty 'n sweet treat.

Ingredients:

2 cups of sugar
2 cans of sweetened condensed milk

1 ounce can of evaporated milk
2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
2 cup of dark molasses*
2 teaspoon of vanilla

2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Melt the sugar, milks, butter and molasses together in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir every couple of minutes until it reaches a temperature of 235°F to 240°F on a candy thermometer. You will need patience for it to come up to temperature, and you'll need to be careful not to let it scorch.


Remove the pan from the heat, add vanilla and 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Mix until all the chocolate chips are melted.

Pour the mixture into two baking dish, or two cookie sheets, that have either been greased, or lined with parchment paper. Allow the caramels to cool at room temperature for an hour. Score the candy into bite size piece that you can break apart when it's completely cooled. Sprinkle Sea, or Kosher, salt on top after you score the candy and you'll have an awesome salty/sweet treat.

*Note:  Here in Costa Rica, I make my own molasses with unrefined brown sugar cakes called "Tapa de Dulce". This is crude sugar cane juice that is cooked down until it caramelizes. Then it's poured into wooden molds and left to cool and setup into brown sugar cakes. I melt the "Tapa de Dulce" with an equal part of water and let it simmer until it reached the consistency of syrup, about 225°F on a candy thermometer. 
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Friday, December 5, 2014

Every year the community hosts a Christmas Party for the poor children in Atenas. A Christmas tree is put up and decorated with paper Angels. The back of each Angel lists an age and what the child wants for Christmas. This year there were over 300 angels on the tree and folks in the community took Angels off the tree to buy presents. Tomorrow is the annual Angel Party for all the children. There will be pizza and refreshments and Santa will be on hand to pass out present to everyone. I volunteered to make cookies for the event this year. I decided to make Santa's Thumbprint cookies, but I wanted the filling to be something special that Latin Children love. So, instead of Raspberry or Strawberry jam, I used Guayaba (guava jelly); a staple here everyone enjoys.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup guayaba (guava) jam or jelly
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk to blend.

In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in the egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 2 additions and beat just until moist clumps form. Gather the dough together into a ball.

Pinch off the dough to form 1-inch balls. Place on the prepared baking sheets, spacing 1-inch apart. Use your floured index finger or 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon to create depressions in the center of each ball. Fill each indentation with nearly 1/2 teaspoon of the jam mixture. Bake until golden brown, about 20-22 minutes.


Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: About 2½ dozen cookies
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