Fleur de Sel Caramels

As I was saying the other day, there are so many excellent food blogs that provide boundless inspiration for me. As I was doing my daily trip around my bloglines, I happened across this post at Everybody Likes Sandwiches. I became instantly obsessed with them, and knew they needed to be made immediately.

As luck would have it, I had just received a jar of Fleur De Sel as part of a gourmet salt sampler for my birthday, which was last week. I've been looking for recipes to use them in, so this was definitely a timely post.

I've never made caramels before, and I must admit it was much easier than I thought. The flavor is amazing, and the salt is the perfect complement to the creamy caramel. These are perfect for gift-giving, or for keeping around the house when you need to satiate a sweet tooth.



Fleur de Sel Caramels
1 c heavy cream
5 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 tsp fleur de sel
1 1/2 c sugar
1/4 c light corn syrup
1/4 c water

Also needed - parchment paper, 8x8 pan, candy thermometer, glass of water with ice

Line bottom and sides of the 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper, then lightly oil parchment. (I used tape to secure the paper down). Bring cream, butter, and fleur de sel to a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and set aside. Boil sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 4 qt saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil, without stirring but gently swirling pan, until mixture is a light golden caramel (This took about 5 minutes for me, and my thermometer read about 300 degrees). Carefully stir in cream mixture, which will bubble up rapidly, and simmer, stirring frequently, keeping temperature around 248 degrees. Continue to cook until a drop of caramel firms up to desired texture in the glass of ice water (I like a softer, chewier caramel, and this took about 5 minutes for me). Pour into baking pan and allow to cool for 2 hours. Cut into pieces, and wrap in wax paper.