I said I'd post this recipe like three days ago /o\
After doing a bunch of research on why every single recipe uses corn syrup (it inhibits crystallisation), why it does that (it's an invert sugar), what an invert sugar is (???) and whether golden syrup is one (yes), I clicked a link and found this recipe, which says outright that you can use golden syrup. \o/
The caramels themselves aren't very salty, so I was generous with the sprinkling on top. You do need a thermometer - you could manage the first stage with the cold water test, but I don't know how you'd test the second. The chew factor is very chewy but not tooth-breaky at room temperature. They are AMAZING.
Salted butter caramels (from David Lebovitz)
3/4 cup (180 ml) cream (whipping/heavy, ~35% milkfat)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
rounded 1/2 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon extra (for sprinkling) flaky sea salt (I used table salt for the 1/2 and rock salt for the 1/4 because it's what I had)
1/2 cup (160 g) golden syrup (or light corn syrup if you are in the US)
1 cup (200 g) sugar
4 tablespoons (60 g), total, salted butter, cubed, at room temperature.
1. Line a 9' loaf tin with foil and spray with cooking spray. (Or, I imagine, brush with vegetable oil.) Or if you have a silicone baking sheet, use that to line the tin and you don't need to oil it. I misread and used a 10'x8' casserole dish. The caramel didn't fill it and was thin at the edges but decently thick in the middle. If you want thin like a Toffee Milk, you'd need a bigger pan than that, and to tilt it around to get the caramel to spread out.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the cream, 2tbsp of the butter, the vanilla, and 1/2tsp of the salt until just boiling. (Doesn't take long.) Cover and set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, preferably with a heavy bottom, heat the golden syrup and sugar. You want plenty of room in the saucepan (David Lebovitz says 4L), because it will bubble up a LOT later. Stir gently to make sure the sugar melts smoothly. After it melts, stop stirring - stirring encourages crystallisation. Tilt the pan back and forth or stir very gently if it starts to cook unevenly.
4. Heat to 155°C (just over hard crack).
5. Turn off heat; stir in cream (watch out for bubbling up) until smooth.
6. Put heat back on; heat to 127°C.
7. Remove from heat and stir in remaining cubes of butter until they melt and the caramel is smooth.
8. Pour into prepared tin. Tilt it around if you're trying to get it thin. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with the remaining salt. Set the tin on a rack and let it cool completely. (Complain on Twitter about how long it's taking.) Lift out the caramel, peel off the foil or silicone and cut with a sharp knife. Cutting at room temp was a bitch, but I found at fridge temp it broke along the line of force, which made things easier.
9. Wrap individual caramels in squares of baking paper. This is the most annoying part, tbh, but they really want to stick together. Store in an airtight container. Apparently they'll keep for a month, but the chances of mine surviving that long are somewhere between zero and nil.
I'm also making vanilla essence, but ask me about that in three months, which is how long I'm supposed to leave it.
Also posted at Dreamwidth.
The caramels themselves aren't very salty, so I was generous with the sprinkling on top. You do need a thermometer - you could manage the first stage with the cold water test, but I don't know how you'd test the second. The chew factor is very chewy but not tooth-breaky at room temperature. They are AMAZING.
Salted butter caramels (from David Lebovitz)
3/4 cup (180 ml) cream (whipping/heavy, ~35% milkfat)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
rounded 1/2 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon extra (for sprinkling) flaky sea salt (I used table salt for the 1/2 and rock salt for the 1/4 because it's what I had)
1/2 cup (160 g) golden syrup (or light corn syrup if you are in the US)
1 cup (200 g) sugar
4 tablespoons (60 g), total, salted butter, cubed, at room temperature.
1. Line a 9' loaf tin with foil and spray with cooking spray. (Or, I imagine, brush with vegetable oil.) Or if you have a silicone baking sheet, use that to line the tin and you don't need to oil it. I misread and used a 10'x8' casserole dish. The caramel didn't fill it and was thin at the edges but decently thick in the middle. If you want thin like a Toffee Milk, you'd need a bigger pan than that, and to tilt it around to get the caramel to spread out.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the cream, 2tbsp of the butter, the vanilla, and 1/2tsp of the salt until just boiling. (Doesn't take long.) Cover and set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, preferably with a heavy bottom, heat the golden syrup and sugar. You want plenty of room in the saucepan (David Lebovitz says 4L), because it will bubble up a LOT later. Stir gently to make sure the sugar melts smoothly. After it melts, stop stirring - stirring encourages crystallisation. Tilt the pan back and forth or stir very gently if it starts to cook unevenly.
4. Heat to 155°C (just over hard crack).
5. Turn off heat; stir in cream (watch out for bubbling up) until smooth.
6. Put heat back on; heat to 127°C.
7. Remove from heat and stir in remaining cubes of butter until they melt and the caramel is smooth.
8. Pour into prepared tin. Tilt it around if you're trying to get it thin. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with the remaining salt. Set the tin on a rack and let it cool completely. (Complain on Twitter about how long it's taking.) Lift out the caramel, peel off the foil or silicone and cut with a sharp knife. Cutting at room temp was a bitch, but I found at fridge temp it broke along the line of force, which made things easier.
9. Wrap individual caramels in squares of baking paper. This is the most annoying part, tbh, but they really want to stick together. Store in an airtight container. Apparently they'll keep for a month, but the chances of mine surviving that long are somewhere between zero and nil.
I'm also making vanilla essence, but ask me about that in three months, which is how long I'm supposed to leave it.
Also posted at Dreamwidth.