All the Craze - Salted Caramels

Last weekend I had a minor cake disaster that left my competition cake like an oozy brick and mortar mess. Needless to say, I didn't end up submitting it. While the flavors were delicious, the cake was, in a word, inedible. When I baked the cakes on Saturday night, they were great! They had a wonderful sponge-like texture. They were soft, yet didn't crumble. They were awesome! But Sunday morning when I went to fill and frost the cake, the cake layers had literally hardened into stone. They had become so dense and heavy that they pushed all of the filling out from between the layers. Bleh. Such a mess. But it was yet another lesson learned. I discovered that gluten-free butter cakes DO NOT last over night. They CANNOT be refrigerated. I have a feeling that they would probably work best as cupcakes, baked, iced, and eaten the same day. One upside: they can be frozen after being baked and cooled. Just thaw before frosting!

So in the midst of this cake catastrophe, I resounded to make lemonade out of lemons. I became determined to have a cooking success that day. The result was Chocolate-Dipped Salted Honey Caramels. Oh yeah! I had finally attempted the craze of the decade and actually succeeded. Check out the delicious recipe below:

Chocolate-Dipped Salted Honey Caramels: Yields 3 Dozen Caramels
Adapted Recipe, Original by Beth Kimmerie
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup honey
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t Himalayan sea salt, plus extra for topping (the pink salt is perfect for Valentine's day!)
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate, melted

1. Line the bottom and sides of an 8x8-inch pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Stir in honey, cream and brown sugar. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently.
3. Continue boiling, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches 250 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 45-60 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and 1/2 t sea salt.
4. Pour into prepared pan and let cool completely in refrigerator overnight.
5. Lift caramels out of pan using parchment paper. Slice into 1-inch squares. Working in small batches, dip caramels halfway into melted chocolate and immediately sprinkle with 1 or 2 pieces of Himalayan sea salt. Keep remaining caramels cool until ready to dip. Refrigerate until cool. Wrap with squares of wax paper before giving away.


These caramels are soft when at room temperature or hard out of the fridge. I might try cooking the caramel to 260 degrees next time to make them a little harder at room temperature. But either way, they are delicious and make a lovely gift.

Tonight my boyfriend and I are having our own Un-Superbowl Party! As neither of our teams have made it to the grand finale, we are boycotting and doing something different instead. I'm still making tasty finger foods, but I'm kicking them up a notch and making them a little more upscale. On the tube, we intend to start working our way through the Oscar nominees. Just a different sort of fun!