Caramels - Second Batch!

Okay, so I posted a pic of some caramels I made the other day.  It was the first time I've ever made them and I commented that they were the easiest thing I've ever made and I was a fool to fear the caramels.  Well I was right, they were delicious and easy, so I made some more.

This time I followed a slightly different recipe.  This one had brown sugar and evaporated milk in it.  And it is just as delicious as the first recipe.  They have a little bit more of a maple type flavor due to the brown sugar, but boy are they yummy!

I took some pictures of the whole making process last night, just to show you how easy they are. 

Here is all the crap boiling.  You just throw it all in a pan, turn on the stove to high and wait for the temp to get to about 250˚.  Yup that's all you do.  Then when they reach 250˚, you pour in a little vanilla, pour it in our greased pan, and try to wait for them to cool.  And DONE!

I did accidentally drop my candy thermometer in the bubbling sugar mess.  I just prayed that it held out for this batch of candy.  It did, so another awesome batch of caramels.  Now I have to take it apart and clean all the sugar out of it and hope it's a tough little one and will continue to work for years.  If not I guess I just go to the kitchen store and grab another, no sentimental attachment here.

Here they are cooling.  Look at them, they look delicious just cooling in the pan.  And I may or may not have cut a few pieces out before they were all the way set.  Whatever, they were calling my name, luring me over there to try just a little sweet sample.  I couldn't resist.  You try making some of these and we'll see how much sell control you have!!!  I bet you won't have anymore then I did.  These things are like crack!  No, I'm dead serious.  I think I have a serious addiction and I may just end up in rehab.  It's like that one time I made marshmallows and discovered how much better they were then store bought ones, that was not a pretty day.  The bad thing about the caramels, is they're even easier to make then marshmallows.  Oh crap, I'm in trouble.     

And just in case any of you want to make up a pan of crack caramels yourself, here are the two recipes I used.

1st Caramel Recipe (got this from J's boss, not sure where she got it from, I think she said the Betty Crocker Recipe book, you know the one, the one everyone has.  Hint, hint, mom, where's mine, I own a house now!  But like I said, maybe she got the recipe somewhere's else, I'm not sure.)

Ingredients

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups corn syrup (I used light, but maybe you can use dark, don't know)
• 2 cups heavy cream 
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Grease Pan (I used the one pictured above for both recipes)
2. Mix all ingredients, except vanilla, in a large pot (it has to be a big one because this crap is going to boil and get almost twice volume)
3. Boil mixture until it reaches about 250˚F (it's gonna feel like it taking forever, but just keep going)
4. Once it reaches 250˚, remove from heat, stir in vanilla, pour in greased pan
5. Let cool and then cut in squares

She told me I can speed up the process by putting them in the fridge to cool.  And of course I did that, I wasn't going to wait for them to cool!  

2nd Caramel Recipe (I got this one off Allrecipe.com Click on the link for the exact recipe with comments and pictures) 

Ingredients

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup corn syrup
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Grease a 12x15 inch pan.
2. In a medium-size pot, combine sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, evaporated milk, whipping cream, and butter. Monitor the heat of the mixture with a candy thermometer while stirring. When the thermometer reaches 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) remove the pot from the heat.
3. Stir in vanilla. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan and let the mixture cool completely. When cooled cut the Carmel into small squares and wrap them in wax paper for storage.

  Enjoy!!!