Salted Caramel Bars and a Lesson About Making Caramel

Sometimes I just jump into a recipe without thinking. You'd think I'd learn by now, but apparently I haven't. Making caramel though was a bit of a wake up call. 

Now, I will say up front, I don't believe making caramel is hard. I think, with the right information (which clearly I didn't have), that even a novice can make this. 

That being said, I'm still not exactly sure why I thought making caramel would just be throwing some stuff in a pot and boiling it until I thought it was done. I mean, there is a candy thermometer for a reason! It's clearly much more scientific and tempermental than I thought.

The caramel in these bars was supposed to be soft and chewy. Mine could have cracked your tooth. See the jagged edges of the crust? That's because I had to take a giant knife pointing directly down into the bars to crack them apart because they wouldn't cut. 

Now that I have lived and learned -- and now researched -- I have a few important tips that I think will help your caramel making journey be much more successful than mine.

1. You need a candy thermometer. This will help you identify the exact right stage to remove your caramel from the heat to get the desired consistency.
2. You should insert the candy thermometer into your pot at the beginning of the cooking process so you can see it climb (not after when you've already passed the point of no return).
3. Slowly, slowly, slowly bring it to a slow boil.
4. Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring.
5. Monitor the candy thermometer very closely. Caramel will get hot quickly so it doesn't take long to get to the stage (soft, hard, hard crack) you want, so don't go anywhere!

Whew, I feel better. Now, go and make these delicious bars (carefully!)!


Salted Caramel Bars
Printable Recipe
Serves 9-12


Ingredients


Shortbread:

• 10 tbsp unsalted butter, melted 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg yolk, whisked
• 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour

Caramel Topping:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 4 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 12 tsp vanilla extract

Plus a few pinches of sea salt flakes for sprinkling

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper with the edges hanging over the side (this will allow you to lift it up to remove and cut nicer bars)
• In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, sugar and salt with a fork. Add the yolk and combine. Add the flour and combine until the dough is flakey. Pour dough into lined pan and press down making it level. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Once chilled, bake for 25-27 minutes until lightly browned.
• Once baked, set aside to cool.
• Meanwhile in a pot, combine the topping ingredients: butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, sugar and cream. Insert candy thermometer into pot (it should have a ball or clip so it doesn't slip in). Slowly bring to a boil and make sure all sugar is dissolved. Stir for about 5 minutes until it is thick and bubbly. Once the thermometer reads 230 degrees, remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Pour on top of shortbread.
• Refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Then sprinkle with sea salt flakes.

Recipe from What's Gaby Cooking

Apple Pie with Caramel Sauce

T. was going away for a boys weekend, so I thought I'd make something special for the guys to enjoy. He was kind enough to bring me back one slice (as I could hardly send a pie with one slice missing -- could I?) and it was delicious!

This amazing recipe had nearly 3,000 people give it five stars on www.allrecipes.com. What's special about it is that you pour a caramel sauce over the lattice top and then as it cooks, it seeps into the spaces between the slats and leaves a nice glaze on top. The presentation was amazing and it was a great opportunity to try out a new way to top a pie. 

Lattice was time consuming but surprisingly easy. I simply rolled out a pastry crust like I would if I was going to put on a regular top. Then, using a fork, I measured out even sections, and then I used a pizza roller and a box of tin foil as a guide to cut them. Then I draped every other piece over the pie -- this is important so they're even on the pie. Then, going the other direction, I wove slats through the pieces already on the pie -- one over, one under. What I found really helpful is each time I went to weave a new piece, I flipped up all the slats that it was going to go under, then I could just put it down, and flip the pieces back over. I found www.youtube.com very helpful for this visually!

Ingredients

• 2 flakey pie crusts
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 6 baking apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I used Royal Gala)
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to make a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer, stirring often until forms a caramel consistency.
• Toss apples with cinnamon.
• Place the bottom crust in pie plate. Fill with apples, mounded slightly.
• Cover with a lattice work of crust. When finished latticing, tuck top crust into bottom crust and tuck into pie plate. Pinch crusts together with two fingers.
• Gently pour the sugar sauce over the crust. Pour slowly so it doesn't run off. Pour right over crust too, as it will seep into holes while cooking, but will leave a nice glaze on crust.
• Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.