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Honey and Sea Salt Caramels

Dec 17 by Anita 29 Comments

Honeycaramels2

Hello all,

I’ve been in Hong Kong for a couple of days and it has been a complete whirlwind – but of course you don’t make a trip to the true city that never sleeps expecting a leisurely vacation!

Every time I return to Hong Kong there appear to be about fifty new high rises, sprouting magic beanstalk-like out of the cityscape; about a million more people navigating the streets, subways, and stores with a speed and efficiency rivaling the human circulatory system; and oh, I don’t know, about several million more feet of neon everywhere.

I do love it here, and the fact that Hong Kong celebrates the holidays with such visual panache and culinary gusto almost makes up for my abbreviated Christmas baking season this year. It’s hard to feel pastry-deprived when the streets are almost literally lined with bakeries and gourmet stores selling everything from French pâtisserie to traditional Chinese sweets to European chocolates.

One thing I haven’t seen yet, though, are fresh, honey-sweet, buttery-fragrant caramels like the ones that have been sweeping through the blogosphere this year, and that I made before I left on vacation. Cut into individual pieces, sprinkled with Hawaiian sea salt in a festive red, and wrapped in wax paper, they are the perfect treat to scatter across the holiday party table.

These caramels are adapted from Alice Medrich’s recipe for honey caramels in Pure Dessert, which makes more than enough for you to squirrel a few away for personal indulging after giving out the rest. Although the recipe calls for corn syrup, this is mainly to help keep the caramels soft and pliable instead of turning hard and brittle, and you can eliminate it if you wish. Medrich suggests trying different honeys with this recipe; I like lavender or wildflower. If you are using a light, sweet honey, you can reduce the sugar by a third of a cup – I like to let the honey flavor come through without being overwhelmingly sweet. Also, be sure you get the caramel to at least 250 degrees, which is hard ball stage – otherwise, the resulting caramels may not set up and will be too soft to cut properly. If you find your caramel is still too soft after letting it set up, you can dump it back into the pot and heat it up again – a great little save. Try cooking it to a few degrees higher to make sure it sets up firmer.

I hope all of you are enjoying the holidays – even though my oven isn’t on, I’m still enjoying myself!

Honeycaramels

Honey Butter Caramels with Sea Salt

adapted from Alice Medrich’s Pure Dessert

makes about 80 caramels

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup honey

1 cup (200 g) sugar

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

2 cups heavy cream

3 Tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces, room temperature

Line the bottom and sides of an 8 or 9 in baking pan with foil or parchment paper. Let the sides of the foil or parchment hang over the sides of the pan; this will make it easier to remove the caramels.

In a large saucepan (use at least a 3 quart saucepan, as the boiling caramel will increase in volume), combine the corn syrup, honey, sugar, and sea salt, and bring to a boil. Let the mixture continue cooking until it reaches 305 degrees F.

Meanwhile, place the cream in a small saucepan and warm on the stove until it is just at a simmer. Turn off the heat and cover the saucepan to keep the cream warm (you do not want to add cold cream to the hot caramel or it will seize up and harden.)

When the caramel is at the right temperature, take it off the heat and add in the butter, stirring until it is melted and combined.

Add in the cream slowly – when you pour it in it will bubble up violently, so don’t add the cream all at once or it might overflow. When you have added all the cream, stir the mixture until combined.

Return the saucepan to the stove and cook on medium heat until it reaches 250 degrees F.

Pour the caramel into the prepared pan. Let it set overnight before removing and cutting into individual pieces.

Tagged with: Alice Medrich + Pure Dessert + honey caramels

Bite This!

Filed Under: Candy, Recipes

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Comments

  1. 1

    Dana says

    Dec 17 at 8:11 am

    Sea salt caramels are my fave! Yum. Can’t wait to hear more about Hong Kong – I think I’m headed there in April!

    Reply
  2. 2

    Tartelette says

    Dec 17 at 11:45 am

    I was just thinking it’s been a while since I made a batch! I wonder if Santa willbe kind enough to give me this book for Christmas!! They look wonderful!

    Reply
  3. 3

    paris breakfasts says

    Dec 17 at 11:46 am

    Oh HOW YUMMY
    I’ve not seen caramel bars like this before = divine excess!
    I wouldn’t dare to make them.

    Reply
  4. 4

    veron says

    Dec 17 at 12:22 pm

    You and I …we’re Alice Medrich obsessed! It’s hard not to be when Pure Dessert has such great recipes. I shall make these soon. Yours look sooooo good!

    Reply
  5. 5

    Miss Scarlett says

    Dec 17 at 2:21 pm

    I just finished making a batch of this. I hope it turns out! I don’t have a candy thermometer – just a meat one. And it’s temp stops at 220! Hopefully I got it hot enough and it’ll set up…fingers crossed!

    Reply
  6. 6

    peabody says

    Dec 17 at 3:03 pm

    Oh yum Anita! I so want to make these using my huckleberry and raspberry honey!
    The sea salt gives it a little something extra too.
    Beautiful.

    Reply
  7. 7

    Kat says

    Dec 17 at 3:34 pm

    oh my these look and sound wonderful, especially with the touch of Hawaii in there (wink!) Enjoy HK!

    Reply
  8. 8

    Big Boys Oven says

    Dec 18 at 12:20 am

    This looks great, next stop Alice Medrich’s Pure Dessert!

    Reply
  9. 9

    Patricia Scarpin says

    Dec 18 at 8:02 am

    These are sinful and beautiful, Anita – like everything you do! Enjoy your trip, dear!

    Reply
  10. 10

    Deborah says

    Dec 18 at 8:15 am

    I’m planning on making caramels tonight, but now I’m tempted to use this recipe!!

    Reply
  11. 11

    Julie O'Hara says

    Dec 18 at 8:57 am

    I love the red Hawaiian sea salt here. I’ve been obsessed with trying new salts lately.
    Julie

    Reply
  12. 12

    chip says

    Dec 18 at 3:51 pm

    Wow, Anita, those look like the Idea of caramel. Have fun in HK. Headed there this summer. Can’t wait.

    Reply
  13. 13

    eliza says

    Dec 18 at 4:51 pm

    i’ve never been able to enjoy caramel just like that so far, but i must admit your caramels are heavenly to look at (i bet they’re tasty too)…

    Reply
  14. 14

    StickyGooeyCreamyChewy says

    Dec 19 at 8:22 pm

    Glad you are having a great time in Hong Kong. Your caramels are divine. I am a caramel addict, but I don’t often make my own. Too scary! I think I may bite the bullet and try these. They look so good!

    Reply
  15. 15

    Amy says

    Dec 19 at 11:45 pm

    These sound delicious! I always go weak in the knees for caramel.

    Reply
  16. 16

    Rosa says

    Dec 20 at 3:00 am

    Those caramels must taste gorgeous! I like their pretty looks…

    Cheers and Happy Holidays!

    Rosa

    Reply
  17. 17

    Kate says

    Dec 20 at 3:26 am

    Hi Anita , so happy u havin a gr8 time in HK i’m on my there. Will be there this weekend. Will call you, hopefully we’ve meet up for some coffee. Cheers 🙂

    Reply
  18. 18

    cheryl says

    Dec 20 at 5:37 am

    Homemade caramels, that is amazing. Its just something I don’t see alot of people around here make. I must try.

    Reply
  19. 19

    Mansi says

    Dec 21 at 1:08 pm

    I’ve never had these before, but from the recipe and description, it sure looks like something I should try soon!:)

    -Mansi
    http://funnfud.blogspot.com

    Reply
  20. 20

    Dean says

    Dec 21 at 9:20 pm

    Your pictures look amazing…I can’t wait to try out some of your delicious looking recipes… I am heading to HK in 3 days….planning to go try out some of the places you visited

    Reply
  21. 21

    Kim says

    Dec 24 at 9:33 am

    I just made these thanks to you. I have been craving salted caramels for weeks! Super easy to make as well.

    Luckily, I have honey directly off my parent’s farm. It’s nice to be with them on the holidays even if I can’t be there.

    Thanks for the fabulous recipe.

    Reply
  22. 22

    Anita says

    Jan 7 at 4:26 pm

    Hi all,
    Thanks for the comments, they’re greatly appreciated!

    I love that so many of you have access to awesome-sounding honeys to experiment with!

    Reply
  23. 23

    Heather (hedderlee) says

    Jan 15 at 3:17 pm

    Is this easy to cut? Thanks for a fabulous recipe!

    Reply
  24. 24

    Anna McAnthony says

    May 3 at 8:44 pm

    Your recipe for sea salt caramels looks great. I can’t wait to try it. Caramels are one of my favorite sweet treats, next to chocolate of course.

    Reply
  25. 25

    Linda Sullivan says

    Dec 4 at 8:43 am

    Wow sugar and salt- I will have to try this!

    Reply
  26. 26

    Robin says

    Aug 21 at 9:34 am

    This sounds amazing, I’m making them today. Just curious, do you know why every caramel recipe calls for corn syrup? wondering about the science of it all:)

    Reply
  27. 27

    tamdoll says

    Dec 23 at 6:05 pm

    Thank you so much for the how-to! I made these and they are amazing!!!! I never made caramels before and I will definitely be making these again and again! (http://tamdoll.blogspot.com/2009/12/have-sweet-holiday.html)

    Reply
  28. 28

    tamdoll says

    Dec 23 at 6:08 pm

    Thanks for the how-to, these are fantastic & I plan on making them again and again –
    http://tamdoll.blogspot.com/2009/12/have-sweet-holiday.html

    Reply
  29. 29

    Karen Lucas says

    Dec 7 at 9:56 am

    I tried two different honey caramel recipes and this one was the favorite. Thanks they will make great christmas gifts to the family who owns the farm where the honey came from

    Reply

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Anita Chu, also known as pastrygirl, is a baker, writer, and photographer with a passion for pastry. She trained at Tante Marie's Cooking School and is the author of Field Guide to Cookies, Field Guide to Candy, and Lollipop Love. Anita lives in San Francisco with her husband, baby girl, and rescue cockapoo Snickerdoodle. More about pastrygirl

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