Salted Chocolate Caramel Candy

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. 

Snacks

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Holiday Crack

My friend David sent me a recipe for New Year's Eve Crack.

Warning! This is a highly addictive treat and you won't be able to eat just one piece. I would never make this to have around the house, but I'd gladly make it for a party at someone else's house.

I plan on taking this "crack' to my friend Joni's New Year's Eve Party tomorrow night.

After I read the ingredients, I realized I would have to modify it just a bit. I don't care for the product sold here for brown sugar, because is it simply raw sugar with caramel added, and it doesn't pack down well. I like using the real thing... traditional sugar cakes sold as Tapa de Dulce. In my opinion, Tapa de Dulce has more of a natural molasses flavor I find delicious.

Ingredients:
20-24 saltine crackers
2 sticks (1 cup) butter
1 cup packed Tapa de Dulce (or brown sugar if you must)
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup of holiday sprinkles (think 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year's colors)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F.
• Line a cookie sheet with foil and coat it with nonstick cooking spray. 
• Lay the saltine crackers on the cookie sheet in a single layer with the salted side down.
• Grate the Tapa de Dulce with a cheese grater, or food processor until you have enough to firmly pack one cup of sugar.
• Melt the butter and Tapa de Dulce in a saucepan over medium heat and stir frequently to prevent the butter from scorching.
• Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil for 3-5 minutes to create toffee.
• Remove from the heat and carefully pour the butter and sugar mixture over the crackers on the cookie sheet.
• Place the cookie sheet with the crackers and toffee in the oven for 3-5 minutes, until the toffee is bubbly all over. Carefully remove the cookie sheet from the oven.
• Immediately top the toffee crackers with the chocolate chips, and allow them to sit for a minute to soften and melt. When the chocolate chips are soft, take an offset spatula and spread the melted chocolate into an even layer over the toffee crackers.
• Top with holiday colored sprinkles.
• Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for a least 30 minutes.  Once the "crack" is set, break it into small uneven pieces by hand.
• The Holiday Crack can be stored in a airtight container for about a week (if it lasts that long.)

Snacks

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Caramel Candy

I saw a recipe recently for Caramel Candy and as usual, I didn't have the required ingredients. So, I decided to invent my own with the ingredients I had on hand and it is delicious.

Ingredients:
1 cup of sugar
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 stick of butter (½ cup)
1 cup of dark molasses*
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:
Melt all ingredients 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. Be careful that you don't let it scorch.

Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish and allow it 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.

Miscellaneous

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Homemade Vanilla Extract

After 2 days of aging

A couple of years ago, our daughter, Mary, gave us some wonderful homemade vanilla extract. As luck would have it, I dropped the bottle and broke the cap. I never did find a replacement cap, or bottle, so all of the contents evaporated while sitting in a kitchen cabinet.

Needing to replace it, I went to our favorite local grocery store Coopeatenas and found they only carry artificial vanilla flavoring. Not one to settle for less than the best, I started searching the internet for different recipes and finally cobbled this one together.

I just happened to have plenty of vanilla beans stored in a vacuum sealed bag that I had shipped in our sea container when we moved to Costa Rica last year.

Ingredients:
8 whole vanilla beans
1¾ cups of cheap vodka
¾ cup of cheap dark rum

Directions:
Slice vanilla beans in half and then lengthwise. Using a funnel, or a very steady hand, pour the alcohol into a clean, empty bottle. Add the vanilla beans to the bottle and store it in a dark place for a couple of weeks. Once a day, shake the bottle to help speed up the extraction process.

As you use the vanilla in your favorite recipes, you can top off the bottle now and then with some additional vodka and dark rum in a 2:1 ratio. The beans will eventually break down and dissolve, so add more vanilla beans when necessary.

Note to self:  Buy small bottles and more vanilla beans.  May need to make lots more of this for future gift-giving.

Miscellaneous

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Peanut Brittle

Ingredients:
1 cup Spanish peanuts, raw
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup corn syrup, light
1 tsp baking soda

Directions:
In skillet on medium heat, mix sugar, water and corn syrup. Boil until mixture 'hairs' when you let it drip from the spoon. (this is the hard ball stage) add peanuts. Let cook until peanuts start looking light brown and the sugar/water mixture starts looking a little brown. Remove from heat, add baking soda and stir. Mixture will foam up, stir several times then either spoon onto foil for individual pieces or just pour out into one big piece. The longer you stir the mixture the browner it will get. The more brown the more better the flavor. Let cool, peel off foil and store in air tight container. Makes about 20-25 tablespoon size pieces.

Candy

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