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Archive for the ‘Candy’ Category

Rice Krispy Treat Bark

Posted in Bar Desserts, Candy, Chocolate, Dessert, Peanut Butter, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 19, 2013 | 12 Comments »

rice kriispy treat bark on overtimecook

Today’s post is really good timing.

And no, I don’t mean that this is a fabulous last minute Purim treat if you’re still stuck on what to make for your Mishloach Manot (purim basket). Although it totally is a fabulous purim treat…etc.

The reason this post is very timely is that there was in an interesting discussion on Facebook recently regarding recipe sources and credits and things. And the question came up if there’s a possibility of complete coincidences in recipes.

The answer? Yes. How do I know? Because of this recipe. Before I explain, let me say that recipe attribution is a very important issue, and one I feel very passionate about. But sometimes, two people might just have similar ideas, independently. And the proof is in the bark.

Recently, I mentioned to my friend Carla that I made rice krispy treat bark. She was floored. “So did I!” I had just finished wrapping up my photo shoot, so I asked her for details. Turns out, our ideas weren’t exactly the same, but the idea was similar. Total coincidence. (Or, as I like to think of it, great dessert minds think alike!) Anyway, after you scroll down to look at my version of this fun treat, click here to see what Carla came up with.

Anyway, for a chocolate peanut butter snack that’s as addictive as you’ll ever find, try this. You can thank me later.

rice kriispy treat bark 1

Rice Krispy Treat Bark

Ingredients:

for the rice krispy treat layer:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine

2 cups mini marshmallows

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

2 1/2 cups rice krispies

to assemble: 

10 ounces chocolate

Instructions:

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a pot over medium heat, melt the margarine or butter. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted. Add the peanut butter and stir until melted and everything is combined.

Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the rice krispies. Stir well until combined and all of the rice krispies have been coated.

Pour the rice krispies mixture onto the prepared pan and spread into a very thin layer. Set aside to cool completely.

Once the rice krispies are completely hardened, assemble the bark. Break the rice krispie treats up into small pieces. Set aside.

Line a pan (about 9×13 inches, but that isn’t too specific) with parchment paper and set aside.

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and pour onto the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the rice krispie treat pieces. Set aside until chocolate is hardened.

Once the chocolate has set, break the bark into pieces.

Enjoy!

rice krispy treat bark 2

Thanks for coming by people! Enjoy this completely addictive treat. Come back soon for more fun and delicious recipes! – Miriam PS: don’t forget to enter my giveaway! 

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Party Pictures

Posted in Appetizers, Bread, Candy, Cookies, Dessert, Life on the side, Salads, tagged , , , , , on July 31, 2012 | 20 Comments »

I know what you’ve been thinking. “She keeps talking about her party, and promising to show us her pictures, but she doesn’t follow through! Why, I bet she didn’t even make a party!

Yeah right. I flatter myself thinking anyone was desperately waiting for these pictures. And I almost didn’t show them off because they are seriously awful pictures. Here’s what happened. The day of the party was crazy rushed, and I didn’t have a second to take a picture until the guests were already starting to arrive. My mother was completely mortified because I made her stand guard and make sure nobody took anything while I finished putting on my makeup and getting my camera ready. So as you can imagine, I took the pictures in minutes. Less. And without putting any thought into the lighting, composition, etc. My apologies to your eyes.

For those not familiar with this, the party was a Sheva Brachos, a traditional party made for a Jewish bride and groom every night for the week following their wedding. This particular party was a sit down dinner for about 35-40 people. I got a picture of the appetizer and the dessert table. Sadly the rest of the meal didn’t get photographed because I was so busy.

Anyway. Here we go!

As you will see, my theme colors were green and white. The room the party was in is actually painted green. The dessert table was in the doorway of another room, painted red, but it looks a lot more prominent in the picture than it did in real life.

 

Parts of the table are cut off in that picture, because I didn’t have my wide angle lens on the camera, and didn’t have time to switch. Let’s go through it bit by bit.

Firstly, the top of the vase- here’s the gorgeous arrangement done by my talented mother (who did all of the flowers for the party):

 

It was very pretty and dramatic, shame you can’t see the full effect!

Next, we have the treats. In the corner, I bunched together a couple of pretty glass containers that I got at the discount store:

In the tallest container in the back I had snowball cookies. (A snowball in July…hehe) I used this recipe for the cookies. They were delicious!

To the left, I made ordinary meringues, added a bit of mint extract, then dotted green food coloring over it so that it swirled nicely through when I piped them. I didn’t think anyone would like them, but these were a huge hit!

To the right, in the back, I took regular marshmallows and dipped them halfway in green candy melts. My only regret with those is that I should have added some white to make those lighter.

In the front, I put out a bunch of these awesome little green and white sour candies.

There’s also a dish of pistachio nuts in the front, but you can’t really see them in the picture.

Next, just to the left of the flowers, I had this gorgeous thing:

Remember when I posted about Sprinkle Bake’s amazing cookbook? Well this clever Cookie Tree is in there, so is the recipe for the cookies. You need to buy this book just for this. Trust me.

Then there were cupcakes. Not because I thought cupcakes were needed, but because I found these cupcake liners and couldn’t leave them in the store!

I used a recipe for Lemon Cupcakes, but I made them with lime juice and zest instead. Then I glazed them with a cream cheese glaze, and topped them with green sugar pearls. Simple, but I like them. :)

Next came the healthy part:

I know I always appreciate it, as a dieter, when there’s a fruit option. I am lucky to have a super nice brother in law who cut up the fruit for me.

Lastly:

Those are lime flavored sandwich cookies (I totally need to make them again and post the recipe, they were easy and totally delicious) and simple oreo truffles that I decorated with white and green.

 

Onto the actual table:

I didn’t get this in the picture, but I also had a shallow dish with green marbles and white floating candles next to the vases. Aren’t those vases perfect?? The big ones aren’t even mine!

Let me show you a close up of the place setting:

My apologies for the crooked cutlery. My OCD side can’t believe I let that go!

For the appetizer, I made wrap bowls using this guide from The Spiffy Cookie. (I used mini wraps instead of tacos. It worked beautifully!) I filled those with a delicious salad made by my little sister. (Totally going to have to post that recipe too!) I love this presentation because it looked fancy, but wasn’t very hard, and the bowls were made a couple of days in advance.

My big sister made those gorgeous mini challahs. Of course, we couldn’t leave well enough alone, so we tied ribbons around the challahs. I love how that came out.

I’ve been calling it “my party” but this was totally a group effort. Aside from everyone I mentioned before, I have to mention that my sister in law cooked a large part of the actual meal, plus helped plan it for weeks in advance, and coordinated the serving. Turns out that’s not something I am experienced at. Who woulda thunk? My big sister, aside from making the challah, made a bunch of food for the meal, showed up early to help set up invaluable!, and did a ton of the planning and serving. My little sister was a life saver. Aside from making the salad, she devoted hours that day to helping me set up and pulling everything together. Also, my friends L. and Y. neither of whom even read this blog were the best. Seriously. L came straight from the dentist to help me set up, and Y took off from work to help. You should totally be jealous of my friends!

Moral of the story: if you want to throw a fancy party and don’t have much time to do it, have my family and friends.

Oh, and my (other) big sis is married. How weird is that???

 

Thanks for coming by folks! Come back soon, I have some fun stuff to share! -Miriam

P.S. Are we connecting yet? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. Join me? 

 

 

 

 

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Homemade Free-Form Lollipops and a review of Sprinkle Bakes

Posted in Candy, Cookbook Reviews, Dessert, tagged , , , on June 13, 2012 | 5 Comments »


I can’t tell you how excited I am to have been given the opportunity to review the Sprinkle Bakes cookbook, by Heather Baird.

I’ll admit right of the bat that I’m a tad biased. Not because of the review copy I was sent, but because I am a huge fan of Heather’s blog. The first recipe I ever saw of here’s was this Flaming Strawberry Cupcake. I was so taken aback by it’s beauty and drama, that I was rendered speechless for a couple of minutes! I’ve been a fan of the blog since, and am thrilled to own the cookbook.

At First Glance:
The book starts with the simple and moves on to the more elaborate. Before it starts with the recipes, there is an explanation of various tools and techniques that are used throughout the book. It then moves on to basic recipes that are incorporated into the other recipes in the book, such as simple sugar cookies, meringues, and cakes. The book then moves on to more elaborate, and absolutely beautiful treats that really do, as the title implies, bring out the artist within you.

Some Features I Liked:
This book is full of beautiful and eye catching photography, both of the end result, and more importantly, the step by step preparations. This is more than a book of recipes, it’s a book of guides to creating edible art. Many of the steps are intricate and involved, but the directions are very clear, and the pictures really guide you along.

Heather was a traditional artist, creating art on canvas, before she moved on to creating edible (and delicious!) art. I love that this cookbook has categories for various forms and styles of art. There is a section about color, a section about lines, a section about sculpture, etc. It may sound like an art book, not a cookbook, but really, this is a seamless combination of the two.

Some Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try:

Postcard Cookies (these are so gorgeous and have unlimited possibilities!

Salted caramel cupcakes: these are a million levels of deliciousness!

Southern Bombe: this is gorgeous in a totally edible and inviting way, which is so unusual for a dessert.

Diagonal chocolate mousse cups: because Heather is the kind of person who can make chocolate mousse ten times more elegant!

Tuile Cookie Spoons with Peanut Butter Mousse: How brilliant is it to serve mousse on an edible spoon?

Who this cookbook is for:

This cookbook is an excellent choice for anyone who enjoys being creative, and has occasions when they want or need something breathtakingly beautiful, and showy.

Who this cookbook isn’t for:

This cookbook isn’t for someone who is looking for a bunch of quick and easy, every day type desserts.

What I didn’t like:

Overall, I loved this cookbook, and want to try everything in it. My only minor complaint is that this cookbook uses some special equipment and special ingredients, which may be hard to find. (For example, the post card cookies that I want to make need edible wafer paper, which I am in the process of searching the internet for.)

Conclusion:

This is an amazing and inspiring cookbook for anyone who enjoys making elaborate and beautiful desserts.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this cookbook to review. My opinions are entirely my own.
_______________________

And now, let me show you how this cookbook helped me overcome my fear of candy making…

Because ever kid knows, the only thing more awesome than eating a lollipop, is eating one that was homemade for you!

Homemade Free-Form Lollipops:

Adapted from Sprinkle Bakes by Heather Baird.

Note: this requires a candy (sugar) thermometer, which may scare you, but it’s a fairly inexpensive item, and totally worth it!

Equipment:

Lollipop sticks

Parchment paper

Candy thermometer

Heatproof (glass) measuring cups with pour spout

Long wooden skewers

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup corn syrup

2/3 cup water

1/4-1/2 teaspoon clear flavor extract of your choice (I used strawberry)

Liquid food coloring in color(s) of your choice

Instructions:

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and grease with cooking spray. Lay 8-10 lollipop sticks on each tray, leaving enough space between them for the candies themselves. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, stir together the sugar, corn syrup and water. Place the pan on a high flame, and clip the candy thermometer to the side of it. Continue to heat the mixture without stirring until it reaches the hard-crack stage, 302 degrees. Do not stop before or after that temperature.

Stir the flavoring oil into the mixture. Stand back as this will cause it to bubble and sputter.

Place the mixture in a glass measuring cup. If using multiple colors, divide the mixture between two or more cups. Add a few drops of food coloring to the cup, and stir once or twice with the skewer. Do not stir too much, as you want the candy to have a marbleized color quality.

Drizzle the candy mixture over the lollipop sticks. Move the spoon around to get an interesting shape. Let the candy fall randomly and watch the pretty patterns that emerge. Work very quickly, as the candy starts to harden pretty fast.

Leave the candy to harden, then slide it off of the parchment paper and wrap in cellophane bags.

Note from the book about the shapes: There is a concept in art of negative space, that it can add to art in the same way the positive spaces do. The areas around the candy, holes and such, add a nice and artistic touch to the end result.

Enjoy!


Hope your week is going great! Come back soon, I have some delicious treats up my sleeve for you! -Miriam

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Homemade Milk Chocolate Fudge

Posted in Candy, Chocolate, Dairy, Dessert, tagged , , on May 24, 2012 | 20 Comments »

My fudge story starts about two summers ago, when my mother took me and my siblings to Hershey Park. At some point, we went into one of the (seemingly millions of) little shops that line the entire park, begging the tourists, or perhaps quietly enticing them to spend more money they have on pretty much every conceivable gimmick with some animated-looking Hershey’s candy splashed all over it.

Don’t get me wrong. I love souvenirs, so I’m not complaining. I willingly pranced into every store I could. Who needs roller coasters when you have mini slinkies decorated with happy looking chocolate bars? But I digress.

At some point we walked into a little shop, and by the smell of things, it was clear that this store was different. Their products didn’t have pictures of chocolate. They sold chocolate. Most notable, as you can imagine, was the fudge. Trays and trays of perfect little squares. Every color imaginable, and each was as enticing as the next. But alas, we keep kosher, so these weren’t going to work for my family.

And there I was, looking wistfully at the delightful display of confections, when I notice the display of cookbooks. My face lit up, as you, my cookbook loving friend, can surely imagine. Being the very awesome mother that she is, mom bought me the cookbook.

I’ve made loads of the recipes in that book, and enjoyed every one of them, but fudge was probably the highlight.

Had I read about how to make fudge on the internet, I might not have considered trying the fudge recipes in this cookbook. But I didn’t. And so I made the most amazing homemade chocolate fudge. And I discovered that it’s not only an easy task, but people look at you like you’re some kind of a domestic goddess when they hear that you made it.

Don’t believe me that it’s easy? Check out the list of ingredients. Go ahead, scroll down. I can wait….. See? What are you waiting for- make it. Now.

Homemade Milk Chocolate Fudge

Inspired by Hershey’s Incredibly Easy Desserts

Ingredients:

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (or one recipe homemade sweetened condensed milk)

3 (3.5 ounce) bars milk chocolate

Instructions:

Line an 8 inch square pan with foil and grease it well with butter or cooking spray. Set aside.

Fill a small pot halfway with water and bring it to a boil.

Choose a heatproof bowl that fits over the pot (double boiler style) and pour the condensed milk into it. Break the chocolate into squares and add it to the bowl. Place the bowl over the boiling water and turn flame to medium-low. Stir frequently until the chocolate and condensed milk are melted together and smooth.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and place in the fridge for a couple of hours until completely set. Remove from pan and cut into small squares (don’t make the squares too big, as the fudge is very rich!). Store in the fridge. Serve cold.

Enjoy!

Wishing all of my Jewish friends and readers a happy shavuos! I hope you enjoy the fudge, and come back next week- I think it’s time for some diet recipes! ;-) -Miriam

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Party Pictures and Goodies Round Up

Posted in Bar Desserts, Bundt Cake, Cake, Candy, Cheesecake/Dairy Desserts, Chocolate, Cookies, Dessert, Fruit, Life on the side, Muffins/Cupcakes, No-Bake Dessert, Party, Peanut Butter, Pies/Tarts on May 14, 2012 | 33 Comments »

There are no recipe in this post, so if that’s all you’re here for, sorry to disappoint. However, I am going to show you what I made for my sister’s engagement party and how I displayed it. Partially as an explanation of why I disappeared for a couple of weeks, and partially in case you want ideas of something to make for a party.

Edit: by request, I have added freezability (I don’t think that’s a real word) information to each item. Please comment or email me for more details.

(Excuse the poor quality of the pictures. By the time I had finished setting up I had a very short window of time to take them before people arrived and started to demolish the treats.)

Firstly, the set-up. My mother, together with a family friend who helped with the arrangements got the tablecloths and arranged for people to make real foods. My job was the desserts. I set them up on three tables.

First:

Second:

And third:

Now, let’s break it down. I will show you close up pictures and links (if I have them!). Here goes:

On the first table:

Mini Double Chocolate Trifles – I made these pretty much the same as the link, except that I piped the cream on the top differently. They were very popular, as always.
Freezer info: I made these the day of the event, using brownie scraps from the heart shaped brownies, below.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting – While these were the dreamy kind of delicious, I think the presentation made a big difference here. I bought these cupcake liners from wilton, alternated black and white, then I colored fondant black, rolled it out, and stamped out the letters “mazel tov.” (For my non-jewish readers, that is the traditional greeting when someone gets engaged. It would also work with congratulations, or some other relevant phrase.)
Freezer info: I made the cupcakes in advance and froze them. I made the frosting the day of the event. I made the fondant cupcake toppers a couple of days before the party and kept them in an airtight container.

Mocha Bundt Cake with Coffee Glaze – this is a family favorite that I somehow never posted. (Must remedy that soon!) It looked nicer in real life than it does here, I promise!
Freezer info: I made the cake well in advance and froze it. I made the glaze a couple of days early and kept it in the fridge.

Glazed Raspberry Cookies – As I state in the original post, these are beautiful and easy to make. What more could I ask for?
Freezer info: I made and glazed these in advance, and froze them.

Triple Chocolate Oreo Chunk Cookies – Easy and delicious- real crowd pleasers!
Freezer info: I made and froze these in advance.

Mini Mocha Cheesecakes with Oreo Crumb Crust – One of the options on the original post was to bake them in mini muffin pans. Perfect size for a party, plus everyone adores this recipe.
Freezer info: I made these and drizzled melted chocolate over them and froze them completed.

Almond Covered Sugar Cookies – I had extra roll out sugar cookie dough from the royal icing cookies, so I rolled it out, brushed it with an egg, sprinkled sliced almonds on it, dusted it with cinnamon and sugar and baked it. Simple and yummy!
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them.

Cannolis (for lack of a better word) – I used store-bought (don’t tell anyone!) wafer shells, dipped them in melted chocolate, then filled them with sweetened whipped cream. Needless to say, these were super popular.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them. In fact, the freezer helped these keep their piped details nicer.

Next table…

The centerpiece of this table (and possibly of the whole buffet) were the royal icing cookie hanging from the branches you see in the center. I will be dedicating an entire post to those, so we will go right on to…

Cappuccino Cookie Cups – I made them exactly like the recipe, but I wanted to tell you a funny story. These were in the magazine the week of the party, ( I had actually made the cookies in advance and put them in the freezer, then stuck the cream on the day of the event.) Someone told me that she also saw them in the magazine and was thinking to try them. I was like “yeah, I wrote that.” I am a showoff at times, I guess I can’t help it.
Freezer info above.

Mini Cherry Pies – I plan to post the full recipe eventually (along with some pictures that actually do these beauties justice!) but for now, here’s a link to my pie crust recipe, and a tutorial on making good pie crust.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them.

Chocolate Covered Oatmeal Bars – Again, easy, delicious and pretty. Are you noticing a theme here?
Freezer info: made these in advance and froze them whole. I should have cut them up before freezing. Learn from my mistakes!

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Candy Bars – I have to post the recipe one of these days, these were super yummy, and no bake to boot!
Freezer info: I made these and froze them whole. Bad idea. See above.

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies – These were my first venture into the world of shortbread, and I definitely plan to be back, with all kinds of awesome variations. Their flaky texture is amazing.
Freezer info: I froze these already dipped in chocolate.

And finally, the last table. There was actually one thing on this table that I didn’t make (shocking, I know. But it was a gift and we had to put it out.)

Heart Shaped Brownies – The recipe isn’t as important as how I decorated them. I baked the brownies in a wider pan, so they were more shallow than average. Then I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out hearts. The glaze is the same as the one I used for the raspberry cookies. I don’t know why I didn’t get a picture where you could actually see how gorgeous they were, so you will just have to take my word for it. Or make them and see for yourself.
Freezer info: I made these and glazed them and froze them after the glaze set. And I used the scraps for the trifles.

Rugelach – Another recipe which I will have to post eventually. Though these don’t really need an introduction or an explanation.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them.

Nutella Puff Pastry Roll Ups – These Nutella Puff Pastry Pockets were one of the most popular posts ever on my blog. I decided to take them and make something bite sized and a little bit prettier out of them. This is what I came up with. As you can imagine, they were as popular at the party as on the blog.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them.

The fourth compartment was filled with a wafer cake that someone sent from a bakery. I won’t glorify it with any more blog space.

Now on to the items directly on the table:

Vanilla Bundt Cake – another family favorite which I somehow never posted. It’s actually a real favorite of my sister (the bride) so I decided to make it. Those are pink sugar pearls decorating the top.
freezer info: I made the cake in advance and froze it. I made the glaze a couple of days in advance and refrigerated it. I decorated it the night before the party.

Maple Sandwich Cookies with Toasted Pecans – I made these mostly because they are so impressive looking, but you wouldn’t believe how wild people were over them. Not until you taste them, then you’ll be totally in love too. With a cookie. It happens.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them whole.

Mini Maple Bundt Cakes with Bourbon Glaze and Toasted Pecans – Yep, these are every bit as good as they sound. You’ll have to take my word on that, because the recipe is my original one and I haven’t posted it yet. I’ll get there. Eventually.
Freezer info: as with the other bundt cakes, I froze the cake, refrigerated the glaze and put it all together the night before.

Anyway…that’s pretty much what kept me busy for the two weeks following passover. That and the cookies I hope to post next. And buying a new dress to wear, picking out paper goods, borrowing and collecting props, and some other things, such as working 9 hours a day and commuting 3 hours a day. No biggie.

Hope you get some good ideas from my insanity! Come back soon for the royal icing cookies, plus some super delicious recipes! -Miriam

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Guest Post: Homemade Chocolate Caramels

Posted in Candy, Chocolate, Dessert, Guest Post, tagged , on April 22, 2012 | 9 Comments »

Let’s start with some super exciting news:
My big sister is engaged!
She got engaged this past Thursday night, and we are all super excited for her. :) There’s an engagement party next Sunday, so I plan to spend the week making all kinds of fancy treats for it. As you can imagine, my blogging time will be very limited, so my friend Rachel Sicherman agreed to step in and write an awesome post for you guys to enjoy while I am knee deep in Royal Icing and Buttercream Frosting.
Rachel is not only the savviest shopper I have ever met (and she writes excellent shopping tips for the ordinary folks among us on her blog) but she is also the only person I know other than myself who finds things like candy thermometers, macro lenses and grammar interesting…all in the same sentence! I’m jealous of her forays into the world of candy making, and must try this soon myself!
________________________________________________________________________
I write limericks as part of a project to define each word in the entire dictionary (yes, every single word!) with a limerick. The OEDILF (Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form) is huge project with thousands of members all around the world, and you can pick up pretty interesting stuff there. I recently came across a limerick by Walter Jordan that defined “chocolate caramel”, which I’ll copy here:

Yes, my chocolate caramels are great —
The best in the nation, first rate.
You’ll turn downright euphoric.
Oh, sure, they’re caloric,
But your low-sugar diet can wait.

He then listed the ingredients and instructions for a recipe that’s been in his family for generations. Since I don’t use all his ingredients, I’ve changed the recipe a bit and found the resulting chocolatiness so supreme that I spent from 12 to 4am making them for my Mishloach Manos (Purim Basket) this year! And as Miriam can surely attest, they taste fabulous.

Ingredients:

3 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 cup heavy cream
2 oz. butter + extra for greasing
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

Line an 8″ x 8″ baking dish with silver foil without leaving any space between the foil and pan. I prefer a glass dish, but metal is fine too. Heavily grease the foil with the extra butter. Don’t be stingy with the butter because otherwise you’ll pay for it later, and besides, you’ll save yourself, what, like 6 calories?

Pour all the remaining ingredients, except for the vanilla extract, into a heavy pot that can hold around 4 quarts. Turn the flame on to medium-high, or a bit higher if necessary. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once you start noticing the first bubbles, clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot. This is extremely important because there is no way to guess the temperature, which needs to be exact when it comes to candy-making. Stir the chocolate every so often. You’ll notice the chocolate changing consistencies several times, and this is normal. The mixture must reach firm ball stage, or 246-247 degrees. It’s hard to tell the exact degree if you’re using a glass thermometer, but it’s better to err on the lower side. That’s why it’s a good idea to use a digital one, or to draw a line on the glass thermometer with a permanent marker before you stick it into the pot.

Once the mixture reaches firm ball stage, shut the flame. Quickly add the vanilla extract and stir (you should hear a popping noise). Immediately pour the mixture into the greased pan. Let it cool for about an hour, or refrigerate it until it stiffens a bit. Once cooled, remove the caramel from the foil and place it on a large sheet of parchment paper. If you didn’t grease the foil well enough, you’ll now pay the price so don’t say you weren’t warned! Using a long, sharp knife that has been buttered, cut the chocolate into small pieces (about 1/2″ ‒ 3/4″­ squares) and wrap each piece in waxed paper (see instructions for folding below).
Wrapping instructions:
This recipe yields about 70 caramels, and each needs to be wrapped individually to prevent sticking to each other, and for elegance, of course. Since cutting could take a few minutes, I like to pre-cut my waxed paper while the caramel is cooking. Cut the waxed paper into 3-3.5″ squares. Here’s how to wrap them: Place a caramel onto the center of the paper. Fold 1/4″ of the top edge down towards you and press firmly to make a pleat. Bring the bottom edge up towards the caramel and proceed to roll it up, ending with the pleat on top. Slowly twist the edges to close like a candy wrapper. If you go too fast, the paper will tear. Don’t bother about the oil because it’ll become absorbed.

Important info:

From beginning to end, this project can take about 3 hours, but it isn’t difficult. The first time I made this recipe was the first time I’ve ever attempted candy-making. I had no clue the temperatures had to be exact so I just guestimated with my thermometer and did something like 249 degrees. When my candy cooled, it was ROCK hard! The next time I tried this, I went to 246 degrees and I got perfectly chewy caramels that are soft and melt in your mouth. So watch that thermometer! Also, don’t use margarine as a substitute for the butter because they have very different chemistry and that sort of thing matters here. One more thing: these can stay out on the counter for about a week and if there’s extra (odds are 1:1,000,000) you can refrigerate them. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them here and I’ll try to answer them all. Remember, if it doesn’t work out the first time, try again — the ingredients aren’t that expensive ;) (For the record, I think waxed paper is one of the only non-one-time-use items in a grocery that cost less than $1!)

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