Veruca’s Salted Dark Chocolate Caramels

Posted December 20, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

I LOVE chocolate caramels. I don’t mean caramels with chocolate on top (though those are good too). I’m talking about caramels that have had chocolate mixed into caramel itself as it heats, so you wind up with this dark brown, lusciously chocolaty confection. It’s a weakness of mine, so when I started brainstorming ideas for a Veruca Salt recipe for my Charlie and the Chocolate Factory menu, salted chocolate caramels stuck firmly in my brain.

However, my experience with making chewy caramels is limited…and by “limited,” I mean I’ve never actually done it. I accidentally made soft caramel while making honeycomb candy for the first time several years ago, but I don’t think even that counts, since I’ve never been able to replicate the result.

Rather than try to invent something on the fly, I found a recipe from Taste of Home that looked both simple and reliable. The only change I made was adding a little kosher salt to the top, and OH YOU GUYS IT WAS AMAZING. So chewy, rich, dark, and not-too-sweet. The salt turned out to be the perfect addition, adding just the right level of complexity.

I will DEFINITELY make these again. Soon. Maybe tomorrow. Do I have baking chocolate…I do! I could make these now!

Now is good.

NOTE: This recipe needs to set for at least 5 hours.

A

Veruca’s Salted Dark Chocolate Caramels

‘Hey, Mummy!’ shouted Veruca Salt suddenly, ‘I’ve decided I want a squirrel! Get me one of those squirrels!’
‘Don’t be silly, sweetheart,’ said Mrs Salt. ‘These all belong to Mr. Wonka.’
‘I don’t care about that!’ shouted Veruca. ‘I want one!’

— Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp softened butter (you can also use cooking spray)
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, separated
1/4 tsp kosher salt
You will also need a candy thermometer

Makes approx. 45 1-inch pieces of candy

INSTRUCTIONS:

Line a 9×5 loaf pan with foil and coat with cooking spray or butter. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine the corn syrup, chocolate, and sugar over medium heat until boiling, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula. Continuing to stir, pour in 1/2 cup heavy cream and bring the mix to 234°. Repeat with another 1/2 cup heavy cream. When the mix reaches 234° for the second time, add the remaining cream and heat to 248° (keep stirring!). When the mix comes to temperature, remove from heat and quickly pour into the prepared loaf pan (do not scrape the bottom of the saucepan).
Allow to set for 10-20 minutes, until the mix is warm and slightly set but not cool. Sprinkle on your kosher salt. Allow to set for another 4-5 hours.
Remove foil and cut into 1-inch squares. Wrap individually in wax paper.
Serve to some angry squirrels in Willy Wonka’s factory to appease them.
Since Veruca has a bad run-in with Wonka’s nut-sorting squirrels, I though about adding nuts to these. You can certainly do that if you want; I just prefer my candy without nuts and didn’t want to spoil what I would otherwise consider the perfect chocolate caramel experience.