Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Hi all,

It's been a while since I've been on the BB, I noticed TOBB is closing down. Sad to see them go, but it seemed to be dying anyway.

I'm getting ready to make Christmas treats and wanted to make Pennie's Caramels. I've made them before, but can't remember if it's salted or unsalted butter that I'm supposed to use. Does anyone here know?

Thanks a bunch....

Michelle

Pennie uses salted butter. I use unsalted and a slightly rounded 1/2 tsp of salt.
hope that helps!

btw, does anyone keep in touch with Pennie???

Thank you!

no problem. BTW, on the marilyn's toffee thread I posted about the new wrappers I used this year, bought on amazon...love them! way easier than foil wrappers and one order should last me 2-3 years.

Jean or anyone else....

I had a little brain problem today when making these caramels and cooked them too long. They're not even cool yet and they're definitely too hard. Is there anything I can do to save them, or should I just start over? I've seen a few things online about adding water and recooking, but can't find any specific instructions telling me how much water to add.

Since the other option is to throw them out, I'd be tempted to add a bit of water (maybe a few tbsp to 1/4 cup depending on how hard they are) test some using an ice water drop, see how it is, and add more water if you need to.

But then again, in might be easier to start again....and some people prefer hard caramels too.

Michelle

I am not sure what changes are taking place in caramel besides concentration of the sugar, but if you try to repair your batch, it will either work or we will all learn something from your science experiment.

The change in sugar concentration between firm ball [245º] and hard ball [260º] can be as little as 5%. That would amount to about a half cup of water in a caramel recipe. To be safe, I would start by adding a whole cup of water as I warmed the caramel and see if it can be reabsorbed. Considering how quickly caramel can get sticky in a humid kitchen, I think it might work.

If the water disappears and the candy softens, proceed to the target temperature and see what happens. Any extra water you may have added will boil away before the temperature can rise again. Good Luck.

Well, the science experiment is in the cooling process. I decided that they were already ruined (they were more like toffee than caramel). I can't imagine what happened in my brain, but when I tested my candy thermometer I noticed that my water was boiling at 205 degrees instead of 212. Instead of subtracting 7 degrees from the final temperature, I added it. Doh! Anyway, I saw one comment online which mentioned adding milk and reheating, so I added a cup of milk and very slowly melted down the hardened caramel. I recooked it to 235 degrees. It's cooling now. I am hopeful that it's going to turn out this time...

If it does, I'm thinking it will have a very nice toffee flavor! Will let you all know!

Thanks again for your advice,
Michelle

Success! The caramels turned out beautifully. They have a great flavor and are nice and soft after being recooked to 235. I couldn't believe it!

Michelle, this is great news. I overcooked my last batch and tried to melt them for my caramel covered pretzels as per my normal method- slow cooker - and they got all grainy and the butter separated out. I'll try to melt it with some milk and see if that works.
thanks!