Caramels
Caramels are chewy candies made by cooking sugar with butter and cream or milk until the mixture browns and thickens. They set soft because the syrup stops at a lower temperature than hard candy.
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Fat Toad Farm - Traditional Goat's Milk Caramel - 8 oz
Regular price $20.00 USDRegular price -
Bacanha - Caramel Syrup - 13.5 oz.
Regular price $24.00 USDRegular price -
Bee Squared Apiaries - Sea Salt Caramel Honey - 12 oz. Squeeze Bottle
Regular price $25.00 USDRegular price -
San Ignacio - Dulce de Leche
Regular price $12.00 USDRegular price -
The Crispery - Popcorn Crunch
Regular price $8.00 USDRegular price
How to choose Caramels
- Chewy or brittle. Soft caramels are cooked to the firm-ball stage, 245 to 250°F. Toffee and nut brittle are cooked further, to the hard-crack stage of 300 to 310°F, and set hard enough to snap.
- Cow or goat milk. Goat's milk caramel, called cajeta and tied to Celaya, Mexico, has a brighter, more layered flavor than caramel made with cow's milk.
- Candy, sauce or spread. The water in the cream is what keeps a caramel sauce pourable instead of setting firm. Milk cooked down slowly with sugar becomes a milk jam, thick enough to spread.
About Caramels
Caramels are candies of sugar, dairy fat and milk solids cooked together until golden and firm enough to cut. The color comes partly from the sugar and partly from the milk.
Sugar on its own turns brown only at about 338°F. Milk sugars and amino acids react at far lower heat, in what chemists call the Maillard reaction, and that is where much of a cream caramel's toasted, nutty flavor comes from. Water from the cream also keeps the candy from setting too firm.
Store caramels airtight at room temperature, in a cupboard away from the stove and dishwasher. Set a few out with coffee after dinner, or chop them and fold them into brownie batter.
At a glance
- Made from
- Sugar, butter, cream or milk, salt
- Main types
- Soft caramels, salted caramels, cajeta, milk jams
- Serve with
- Coffee, apples, ice cream, shortbread
Caramels questions
What is the difference between caramel and butterscotch?
Mostly the dairy. Butterscotch is usually a hard candy made by boiling brown sugar and butter together, with no milk or cream, while caramels are cooked with cream or milk. The two names are sometimes used interchangeably, so the ingredient list is the surest guide.
What is dulce de leche, and is it the same as caramel?
It is a close cousin. Dulce de leche is milk and sugar cooked slowly until most of the water is gone, and many recipes add a little baking soda to lower the acidity. Its brown color comes from the milk's own sugars and proteins reacting in the heat rather than from melted sugar. It is made in quantity in Argentina and Brazil, and its low water content lets it keep at room temperature.
Why do homemade caramels turn out too hard?
Usually the syrup went a few degrees too far. The target is the firm-ball stage, when the syrup is about 87 percent sugar and a drop forms a firm ball in cold water. Every few degrees above that drives off more water, and by 270°F you are into taffy territory. A clipped-on candy thermometer is the simplest fix.
Sources: Exploratorium candy temperature chart; University of Richmond chemistry of cooking notes.
