Black Sea Salt Caramels are pure sweet and salty goodness! These little gems make perfect holiday gifts!
Tis’ the season that I am knee-deep in writing my 200+ Christmas cards and making my Black Sea Salt Caramels for clients and friends! This time of year is super busy hanging out in the ol’ house! Every year for something like 15 years I have been making these caramels. I end up making about 1500 of them each year for gifts.
It’s a lot of work to make these many caramels but it’s so worth it. I have gotten to the point that I can make them and not even eat one! That’s right. Not even one… I am pretty proud of this and so is my waistline! Give them a try. Make them for your family or give them as gifts for friends and clients, as I do. You will have a lot of happy people in your life!
Making Homemade Caramels
Making homemade caramels is a bit tedious and time-consuming, but it’s well worth it! There is nothing better than a sweet, chewy, and salty nugget of love.
The trick to making a good caramel is patience. You really do need to watch the pot and stir frequently. Not constantly, but frequently. It’s imperative to pay attention to the candy thermometer. Once the temperature reaches 224 degrees (which is the thread stage), immediately stir in the remaining whipping cream and vanilla. The temperature will drop. Slowly the temperature will rise again. When it reaches the “soft-ball” stage, immediately transfer to the lined cookie sheet. If you let it go past the “soft-ball” stage, even by a few degrees, your caramels will be harder than the soft variety that people love.
Paying attention to the temperature is the biggest piece of advice that I can give. I have made hundreds of batches in my life and have thrown out bunches because of this. Multi-tasking is not what you want to be doing while cooking the caramels! 🙂
I have seen this black sea salt in pretty much every store in Denver. The candy wrappers I picked up at Michael’s craft store. Oh, you will need a candy thermometer, and don’t forget the parchment paper!
Special equipment for this recipe
Bubblin away…
The caramels are chilling out in the pan!
After the caramels have set up over about three hours, they are ready to cut up!
The best gifts are those that are wrapped in tiny colorful packages.
Other Holiday Candy Ideas
Black Sea Salt Caramels
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream divided
- 2 sticks salted butter
- 2 cups light corn syrup
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- black sea salt
Instructions
- n a large heavy Dutch oven (see picture) combine 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, butter, sugar and corn syrup. On medium-low heat, stir the mixture until the sugar and butter is melted. Make sure you scrape down the sides so everything is well incorporated.
- Attach the candy thermometer to the side of the Dutch oven and cook the mixture until it reaches 224 degrees. (Thread stage).
- Add the remaining 1 cup of whipping cream and vanilla. Cook until the soft ball stage on the candy thermometer. Stirring occasionally.
- Transfer mixture to a 9x13 cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and sprayed with cooking spray.
- Sprinkle the Black Sea salt evenly over the hot caramel.
- Let cool for an hour before you cut into squares.
- Wrap the candies in foil candy wrappers to give as gifts.
I assume the 225 is at altitude; what temp are you using for hard ball, please?
Thank you.
I just use what the candy thermometer says. It always works even with high altitude!
Sur La Table carries everything you need to make these delicious candies! One stop shopping is the best!
Totally agree! I love that I have Sur la Table so close! THanks for the tip!
I am making these delicious looking morsels but I can promise I will not be able to resist eating them as I make them
When you have made thousands over the years like me- you learn to say no… But I will say, when I first started making them I had to try each batch to make sure that they are ok! LOL! I know they are ok now!