This week is all about caramels!
First off, many people insist you must use a candy thermometer. After attempting this using the thermometer, I found it was actually easy to prepare by sight. When the caramel is nearing the right temperature, the bubbles slow down and become more infrequent. It`s almost as if the bubbles are talking to you. I liken the bubbles to those found in flowing movie lava, almost as if the concoction is yawning. Let this cook a little longer and you are almost there! Use the ice water trick to then test for doneness by dropping a bit of the mix into water and seeing if it forms a soft ball. When I say ball, it is usually more of a raised blob instead of instantly turning stringy. Caramel is done at this point! If you cook it any longer, it will turn hard when you remove it.
I also found a new recipe that makes a delicious caramel. Cooked the first batch a touch too long and ended up with hard caramels that are reminiscent of skor toffee. Really yummy but hard on the teeth! The next batch, failure to cook sugars a touch longer resulted in a lighter, sweeter caramel. I also cooked the caramel to a lower temperature (to ensure I avoided the hard caramel) resulting in a slightly soft caramel that will be made into pecan clusters. Thus far, I have failed to get the optimal result I desire - caramels that are firm enough to hold shape but still soft and chewy. On next attempt, I will cook the caramel a touch longer to achieve those perfect caramel squares!
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