Vanilla Caramels, one of my Most Favorite recipes

I reserve the last post of the year for one of my favorite recipes.  (I still did a Pinedo recipe posted today but on the Pinedo-only blog, pinedo1898.blogspot.com.)  This year I dithered and fretted and wondered which recipe to pick.  I'm not sure why; it is not like I don't have any choices.  I have a little book which I purchased in the mid-1980s that I designated as my "Favorite Recipes" book.  It is one of those blank books with lined pages so you can fill in as you please.

When I bought it, I had no idea I would ever be writing a blog.  I didn't even know what a blog was, and the internet wasn't very developed, so writing in a book was a great way to document what I liked so I could find those recipes again easily.  I have tapped into this book several times over the 14 years of writing this blog.  So, while dithering yet again, I brought it down off the shelf and perused it.  

Aha!  My vanilla caramel recipe appealed so much, because it is a good recipe (hey, it is a favorite for a reason!) and I have an upcoming social gathering where I wanted to bring something to share.  This group has tasted my experiments before, so I had a standard to uphold...

The recipe is dated 12/21/87 and is the second recipe in the book.  I put a note that I got the recipe from the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper (does anyone know what a printed paper newspaper is these days?).  It is fun and easy to make, and I added a comment at the end which I will add at the end of this post.  Here goes!

Vanilla Caramels

1 cup white sugar (see my notes below)

1 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup butter (or margarine, but really.)

1 cup cream

2 teaspoons vanilla 

A simple list for such a good candy.

Mix all ingredients in a heavy saucepan.  Let boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until a few drops of the mixture in cold water form a firm ball.  (240 degrees F or soft ball stage on a candy thermometer).  Remove from the heat and pour into a buttered 8 x 8 inch pan.  Cut when cool and wrap in waxed paper.

My Notes

It is important to expand on the simple directions regarding cutting and wrapping the candies.  See the end of these notes.

Be generous in buttering the pan.  It is easier to remove the candy if it is not sticking to the pan.  Prepare the pan before starting the cooking process.

I used a 6 x 10 inch pan instead of an 8 x 8.  I used a glass pan.  Metal also works.

I used my homemade vanilla sugar instead of just white sugar.  Either is fine, but I really like hitting hard on the vanilla flavoring.  I also used my homemade vanilla extract, which is vanilla beans soaking in vodka.  You can read about vanilla sugar by clicking on this sentence.

The saucepan shape I recommend is tall and narrow.  Not that I have that, but using a narrow pan (small diameter bottom) allows the mixture to be high enough to properly cover the candy thermometer, and tall gives room for the mixture to rise while cooking so as not to overflow.  I chose small diameter.

To get medium heat, I set the burner to 4 or 5 out of 10.  There is a point in the cooking where the mixture bubbles up and rises quite high, even though you are stirring it constantly.  Turn the heat down as needed to keep it from overflowing, then turn it back up again when the mixture settles back down again.

You really do have to stir it continuously.  Don't worry, you won't have issues with the candy sugaring or other problems.  Stand at the stove and keep the mixture moving the whole time it is cooking.  It doesn't take a long time to reach the right temperature.

Mostly pour the candy out into the pan.  Be careful about using a scraper to get the mixture sticking to the pan, because it is typically cooked to a higher temperature than the bulk of the mixture, and will change the way you feel it when you are eating it:  it brings in a crunch or other hard parts.

Ready for cooking.

At about 200 degrees F, the level rises, threatening to overflow.

At temperature.  Note the level is back down.

Cooling now.

I let it cool overnight.  To remove it from the pan, I used a wide spatula slid between the candy and the pan's side and pushed to separate the two.  Once I had gone all the way around, I used the spatula to start lifting the bottom up.  This is when generously buttering pays off.

Once the candy slab was free, I flipped it out of the pan and onto a piece of waxed paper.  

Then I buttered the blade of a butcher knife and cut the slab into rods.  After that, I cut the rods into small, bite-sized pieces, about 1/2 by 1/2 inch.  Not much bigger!  

The waxed paper wrappers are cut into no smaller than 2 by 3 inch pieces; 3 x 3 is probably better.  You need enough to go around the candy with overlap (the smaller dimension) and then "wings" that are twisted to hold the wrapper closed.  My preference is to twist so that the edge of the overlap is being pulled toward the candy.

I recommend cutting the wrappers while the candy is cooling.

Push!

Cooled candy, ready for cutting

Rods, about 1/2 to 3/4 inches wide

Cut candies, ready to wrap.

Wrapping process.

The Verdict

One batch produced about 120 candies.  A good supply for trying and sharing!

Ooo!

This batch was very good.  The candy cooked to 240 degrees F stuck more to itself than to the pan or my teeth.  It was soft so as not to stress my jaw with chewing but firm enough to hold its shape without flowing.  It had a lovely vanilla flavor without being too strong.  Success!  Adults like this because it is not bitingly sweet.

In the past I have cooked it to 250 degrees F, which is still softball stage but makes a firmer candy.  I recall it being stickier and chewier, which is not always pleasant.  Aim to 240 degrees and pull it off the stove right away.

I have wondered if I should add the vanilla extract after the cooking is done.  I have never tried it. 

The final comment in my written book is this:

Variation - leave out the cream, boil until it forms a crunchy ball in cold water (soft crack stage), add sliced almonds to make almond brittle or anything else that sounds good!

I vaguely recall doing that a few times, but can't really comment on it other than it must have worked or I would not have written it in.

Also, in the past I have kept some candies for a while to see how they would store.  I recall that they absorbed water from the air and their texture changed, not for the best.  This gives you an excuse to eat them, I'd say within a month, and to share them with friends.