persistance

Posted by marne on December 13, 2009 in cook | 3 comments

I've wanted to make fleur de sel caramels since I first read about them, but I'm more of a cookie baker, not a candy maker. It seemed simple enough, though; cook up some sugar, add some cream, sprinkle with salt. So, armed with a candy thermometer and some fancy salt, I decided to give it a try. 

 The first batch, well, it seemed quite delicious. I poured it into a buttered dish to set for a couple hours, but when I went to pop it out it was rock solid. Mr. Heylucy enthusiastically smashed it to bits so we can use it to sprinkle on ice cream or maybe use it cookies. Batch number two was going well, and then my mother-in-law called. While I was busy trying to convince her that she wasn't going to be thrown in jail for running a red light equipped with one of those cameras, my caramel once again cooked just a touch too long. I refused to give up, so I tried one more time. This time I took it off the heat just after it reached the soft ball stage, and it worked out just perfectly. I used this recipe, substituting the corn syrup with honey. I had some of this fancy sea salt, so that's what I used, so they've got a nice honey flavor, perfect with the caramel and salt. 

I'm baking the rest of this rainy afternoon, so there will be more pictures later. First up are these quick and easy lemon cornmeal cookies: 

Also on the list: marshmallows, pumpkin-pie-in-a-jar, and my usual cranberry-oatmeal-butterscotch cookies. I think that will be a nice selection of treats for the gift boxes I've got. I'll be sharing them with some co-workers tomorrow. More pictures to come!