By Julia Moskin
- Total Time
- 55 minutes, plus cooling
- Rating
- 4(239)
- Notes
- Read community notes
We've listened to your comments on this recipe, and tested it—then retested it.It's adapted from “Mast Brothers Chocolate: A Family Cookbook,” by Rick and Michael Mast, the Brooklyn chocolatiers, andthis most recent, updated version reduces the amount of butter and changes the temperature to which you'll want to heat the caramel mixture. (The video at right does not reflect those changes.)Make sure you have a candy thermometer, or an instant-read model, and watch out — caramel is extremely hot. It's worth the little bit of danger.The end result is lovely: sweet and salty with just enough of that caramel chewiness.
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Ingredients
Yield:About 100 small caramels
- ¼pound/114 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1¼cups/300 milliliters heavy cream
- 2cups/400 grams granulated sugar
- 5ounces/143 grams bittersweet chocolate (70 percent cacao solids), broken into pieces
- 1teaspoon flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (100 servings)
41 calories; 2 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 0 grams protein; 20 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving an extra inch or two hanging over the sides.
Step
2
In a small saucepan, heat butter and cream until melted and hot, but do not allow mixture to boil.
Step
3
Make the caramel: Pour sugar into a large saucepan fitted with a candy or instant-read thermometer. Heat sugar over medium heat until areas begin to melt and turn brown. Using a wooden or silicone spoon, stir melted areas to redistribute the heat. Continue to melt sugar, stirring gently to break up clumps until it is dark brown, bubbling and clear, about 330 degrees. This will take about 15 minutes.
Step
4
Immediately pour cream-butter mixture through a strainer into caramelized sugar, but be careful: It will bubble wildly. Heat the mixture over medium-high heat to 255 degrees. This will take about 10 minutes.
Step
5
Reduce heat to very low, add chocolate, and stir until melted and smooth.
Step
6
Pour mixture into lined pan and let cool 20 minutes. Sprinkle salt on top. Let cool at room temperature until firm, about 3 hours or overnight. (If weather is hot and humid, chill in refrigerator.)
Step
7
When caramels are cool and firm, use the parchment paper or aluminum foil to lift caramel slab out of pan. Using a large sharp knife and a ruler, cut into small squares, about ¾ inch. Refrigerated caramel will need to soften slightly at room temperature before cutting.
Ratings
4
out of 5
239
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Cooking Notes
Wrong butter ratio?
I've looked at other recipes' ratios of butter/sugar/cream and I think the listing of butter in this recipe might be a typo. In other recipes, the amount of butter used per ~2 cups of sugar and ~1 cup of cream was 4 TABLESPOONS. This calls for 4 STICKS. An insanely huge amount and understandable why other people had poorly made candies with too much butterfat.
I'll try making this with 4 TBSP of butter and post again.
Krysten Chambrot, Senior Staff Editor, NYT Cooking
Thank you so much for your comments! We've had the recipe retested and updated it to reflect what our testers have found. (The video, unfortunately, does not reflect those changes, but it still gives a good sense of the process.)
Dave in Baltimore
I heeded the advice of other commenters and reduced the butter significantly. I used one stick, or 1/4 pound of butter. The caramels haven't fully cooled yet, but the consistency and the flavor both seem right to me. I will comment further if I've gotten it wrong.
Cindy
I followed the recipe exactly and had the same problems others have mentioned: poor candy quality with butterfat overlying everything. My impression is that there is too much butter in this recipe. I wouldn't make it again.
Lise Fry
As many other people noted, while I used high quality ingredients, the end result was a layer of butterfat on top, which I scraped off, result after fully setting is more fudge than caramel. I questioned the amount of butter in recipe and double checked several times before proceeding. Didn't have an immersion blender, whisked and added a bit of cream as per JM's note, didn't help. guess I should have read other comments and trusted my instincts.
Megs
So easy! My element runs hot, and did not have a proper enameled cast iron pot or something that conducts heat well - so the temperature points were reached almost immediately. Still had a great result though!Wrapping the caramels in parchment was a great project for the kiddies!
Meg
This caramel was a little too bitter. I’m not sure if my candy thermometer is a little inaccurate, but if I make this again, I won’t heat the sugar to 330, but to hard crack stage at 300 instead.
street
The result for me was too hard and somehow crumbly. I’m disappointed but perhaps I messed up the recipe somehow
jkyyz
How does one cut these into individual caramels? I’ve tried twice with no success.
Bleika
Pro tip:Line the dish with good quality (heat resistant) cling film: a lot easier than parchment paper or aluminum foil and provides for a crease free lining.Use a spatula to remove any air pockets before chilling.
Kiki
House full of acrid smoke, don’t know what went wrong. I followed instructions exactly and used a candy thermometer. Didn’t exceed listed temperatures. It’s my first time trying to make candy. I hope my pot isn’t ruined.
Ingridemma
Cooked exactly as directed (revised version) and they came out perfect! Taste is remarkably similar to a See’s chocolate lollypop.
anonymous
I feel like the chocolate gave the caramels a little bit of a burnt flavor, I preferred it without the chocolate but it may have just been that I burnt my caramels.
Elizabeth Haberfeld
Is this accurate that the initial 2 cups of sugar are heated alone with no liquid at all? Usually caramel recipients have you add 1/4 cup of water to the 2c sugar to start.
Kailynn
I would like to note that I made this recipe AFTER the changes. I loved this recipe! As long as you have a thermometer, these are so simple to make. Tasted like a softer version of sees candy chocolate lollipops!
NCPinATL
I made these for the first time this week. I read the notes but though the recipe proportions had been fixed. Nope. The caramels were delicious but they got greasy quickly. I am going to try again but cut the amount of butter. Just wanted to post a recent note to provide a warning.
Kim
Where and how long can they be stored?
Leskap19
I made these according to the new ingredient ratios. Turned out perfect. Delicious. Great texture and flavor.
Meg
This caramel was a little too bitter. I’m not sure if my candy thermometer is a little inaccurate, but if I make this again, I won’t heat the sugar to 330, but to hard crack stage at 300 instead.
JMS
After the cooling period, should these be stored at room temp or in the fridge? Thanks
kaitlan
I thought I made these as directed but ended up with candies that had the weirdest texture- very grainy and sandy. I think I may not have cooked it enough at some point in the process? I was worried about burning the caramel so that’s possible. The flavor was good though.
Megs
So easy! My element runs hot, and did not have a proper enameled cast iron pot or something that conducts heat well - so the temperature points were reached almost immediately. Still had a great result though!Wrapping the caramels in parchment was a great project for the kiddies!
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