Enjoy the flavors of fall with these soft apple cider caramels loaded with the taste of spiced apple cider!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 55 minutesminutes
Cooling/Setting: 2 hourshours
Total Time 3 hourshours10 minutesminutes
Servings 35+/-
Author Pam - For the Love of Cooking / Original by Smitten Kitchen
Equipment
8-inch baking dish
Ingredients
4cupsapple ciderwell-shaken
2tspflaky sea salt
½tspground cinnamon
8tbspunsalted buttercut into chunks
1cupwhite sugar
½cuppacked light brown sugar
⅓cupheavy cream
Neutral oil for the knife when cutting
Instructions
Reduce the apple cider by boiling the well-shaken apple cider in a large saucepan over high heat, stirring occasionally, until it is reduced to a dark, thick syrup, between 1/3 and 1/2 cup in volume, about 35 to 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, get everything prepared because you won’t have time once the candy is cooking.
1. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch straight- sided baking pan with 2 long sheets of parchment paper crisscrossed. Spray well with cooking spray and set it aside. 2. Stir the flaky salt and cinnamon together in a small dish. 3. Measure out your other ingredients.
Once you are finished reducing the apple cider, remove it from the heat and stir in the butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and heavy cream.
Return the saucepan to medium-high heat with a candy thermometer attached to the side (making sure it doesn't touch the bottom of the saucepan), and let it boil until the thermometer reads 252 degrees, about 5 minutes. Watch carefully! Side Note: If you don't have a candy thermometer, have a bowl of ice cold water ready, and cook the caramel until a tiny bit dropped into the water becomes chewy, firm, and able to be plied into a ball.
Immediately remove caramel from heat, stir in the salt & cinnamon mixture until well combined.
Pour caramel into the prepared pan. Allow to cool for a couple of hours at room temperature or a bit faster in the refrigerator.
Once caramel is firm, use your parchment paper sling to transfer the block to a cutting board. Use a well-oiled knife, oiling it after each cut, to cut the caramel into 1-by-1-inch squares. Sprinkle a bit of flaky salt on top, if desired. Side Note: If you find it difficult to cut due to the stickiness, score the caramel into 1 inch pieces and place into the freezer for a while. It's much easier to cut completely once the caramel is very cold!
Wrap each one in a 4-inch square of waxed paper, twisting the sides to close. Caramels will be on the soft side at room temperature, and chewy/firm from the fridge. Side Note: Caramel can sometimes stick to certain store bought wax paper. You can also wrap them in foil or plastic wrap.
For storing, keep soft apple cider caramels, in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator, for two weeks.