HOMEMADE SIN (CARAMEL SAUCE AND CARAMEL CANDY)

INGREDIENTS
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup real maple syrup
1/2 cup heavy (whipping cream)
1 tsp vanilla paste or vanilla extract

PREPARATION
It’s very helpful to have a candy thermometer with this recipe but not essential. Place butter in small sauce pan and melt over medium heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and turn heat to high. Stir frequently until mixture has reached 200°. If you don’t have the thermometer, watch for the boil. Once the mixture has reached a boil, turn the heat one notch below high and stir swiftly and constantly.

To make a caramel sauce, you only need to boil the mixture for about two minutes and it will be ready to drizzle over anything.

To make caramel candy or a dip for caramel apples, you must continue to stir swiftly and frequently until the temperature reaches 250°. Then continue to stir and cook for another seven minutes. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, continue stirring and cooking until the bubbly mixture begins to pull away from the sides of the sauce pan (about fifteen minutes after the mixture has come to a boil).

For caramel apples, dip or pour mixture over the apples as soon as the mixture has stopped boiling.

For homemade caramels, pour the mixture into a pan lined with parchment paper or into paper candy cups as soon as the mixture has stopped boiling.

THE STORY BEHIND THE RECIPE
I love caramel. I’d watched a million cooking shows where desserts were topped with lovely caramel sauce, but it was always previously made so one night I looked up the basic ingredients and started experimenting with ingredients and length of cooking time. It turned into a kind of chemistry experiment—the texture of the caramel changes depending upon how high the temperature gets. By my third attempt, this recipe yielded my favorite results. Yummy, creamy, chewy caramel.

CHEF’S NOTES
When making caramel candy, the mixture should be left on the counter to cool completely before refrigerating for long-term storage. This is so the sugars don’t crystallize and the candy has a smooth, silky texture.

If you like hard caramels, this recipe will work too—you just have to cook it longer and above 250°. Just be very careful to stir like mad so that you don’t burn the mixture. Experiment until you get the best results.

You can also create, paler softer caramels by substituting 1/4 cup of the maple syrup for another 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Follow the same steps, but bring the temperature up to about 240° and cook there for three minutes.

DIETER’S INFORMATION
Well, if you dip an apple in the caramel and only eat one apple—it’s not such a bad diet deviation.