Homemade Honey Vanilla Caramels

Step 1

Line an 8X8 pan with parchment paper allowing the paper to overhang on two sides. Butter the parchment well. Don’t worry if the parchment pops up a bit, the weight of the caramel will press it back down.

Step 3

Heat the sugar with the honey in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar is mostly dissolved and it starts to boil, 4 to 5 minutes.

Step 5

Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the butter one piece at a time. Add the salt.

Step 7

Slowly stir in the cream. The mixture will boil furiously and bubble up considerably as soon as you begin adding things: Just keep slowly and steadily pouring in the cream and stirring. By the time all the cream is added, the temperature of the mixture will have started to drop.

Step 9

Continue cooking until the mixture reaches the hard ball stage (about 244° on a thermometer or when you drop some of the caramel in cold water, you can form it into a hard-ish ball)

Step 11

Immediately pour the hot caramel into the prepared pan. Do not scrape the pot. What sticks to the pot should stay in the pot.

Step 13

Set the pan on a rack in a cool part of your kitchen. Don’t disturb the pan until the caramel is fully cool and set. This will take several hours.

Step 15

After the candy has set up, remove the candy from the pan by gently pulling up the paper overhang and removing it from the pan. Using a chef’s knife, cut the caramel into 100 squares (about 3/4 inch each) and wrap them snugly in small pieces of parchment paper or other candy wrappers. Once cut, the caramels will slowly lose their shape, so it’s important to wrap them right away.