Yay, the SMS baking group is back. Thanks to Jeanette of
The Whimsical Cupcake for picking this week's SMS recipe,
Chocolate Cream Caramels. I was going to sit this one out as I have more sweets in the house than furniture :o), but the thought of sitting out the first SMS recipe of the year just didn't sit right with me.
Make-shift 5" x 4" pan using Reynolds non-stick foil, sprayed with non-stick spray. Used Ghirardelli's unsweetened chocolate for the caramels.
The caramels need to set before being cut. Guess who gets to lick the spatula? I call it quality control :o)Boy, am I glad I made these, even though I only made a 1/4 of the recipe. The unsweetened chocolate cut right through the intense sweetness of these caramels. After a 4 hour rest in the cool basement, they were perfectly set. Cutting them with the chef's knife was a breeze. Instead of wrapping them in wax paper, I put them in paper candy cups which gave them an elegant look.
A quarter of the recipe yielded 25 pieces. That's enough to eat *and* share with friends!
Put caramels in paper candy cups and you're ready to serve! Bon appetit!Final thoughts/tips:
- Hubby, who normally doesn't like caramels, liked these a lot. The chocolate flavor came through very well.
- I took the caramel off the heat at 248 F degrees, per the recipe. This produced the perfect consistency in my opinion; not too soft, not too hard.
- Instead of honey, I used amber agave nectar.
- I asked myself, what would make these awesome caramels, even more awesome? A bath in melted chocolate! These would give the store bought candy, Riesen, a run for its money.
- Next time, I might add coarsely chopped (and toasted) almonds to the caramel.
- For the recipe, please visit Jeannete's blog at The Whimsical Cupcake.
- As always, don't forget to check out the SMS blog roll.
