#ConfectionCollection: Sea Salt & Pepper Caramels

Sea Salt and Pepper Caramels

These sea salt & pepper caramels are truly delicious, soft-set, buttery rich and the pinch of salt blended with a mix of pepper and orange peel means that they’re not so sweet, you can’t have more than one.

I’ve made salted caramel and caramel sauces before,  but this is the first time I’ve made caramels like this. Since making this recipe I’ve made the caramels twice more. They went down so well, people have even put in orders for them.

Once you’ve made them yourself, you’ll see just what I mean!

I got this salt blend from King’s Fine Food, but if you cant get hold of a blend of salt and pepper, you can make your own by mixing fleur de sel or good quality sea salt with crushed pink peppercorns, black peppercorns and green peppercorns, you can then sprinkle this on top of the finished caramels.

This is a really simple recipe, but you will need a  sugar thermometer and a good quality saucepan so that your sugar doesn’t burn.

These caramels make a great gift as they keep well and this recipe should make around 30 caramels. They look fab wrapped in greaseproof paper and placed in a cellophane bag.

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Sea Salt and Pepper Caramels

SEA SALT & PEPPER CARAMELS

Patisserie Makes Perfect
This is a recipe for a delicious soft-set buttery caramel. The sweetness is perfectly balanced with the addition of a sea salt and pepper blend. You will need an sugar thermometer and a loaf tin measuring 23cm by 13cm. I used sea salt from Kings Fine Food (http://www.kingsfinefood.co.uk/shop/sea-salt-with-4-peppers-salt05.html) for sprinkling.
Prep Time 4 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 50 minutes
Course Confectionery
Servings 30 +

Ingredients
  

  • 150 ml Double Cream
  • 300 g Caster Sugar
  • 100 g Unsalted Butter
  • 1 tsp Fleur de Sel or good quality sea salt
  • Sea Salt mixed with pepper for sprinkling

Instructions
 

  • Line a standard loaf tin (23cm by 13cm) with greaseproof paper, then use a flavourless oil to grease the greaseproof paper. This will make removing the caramel easier when it has set.
  • Add the caster sugar to a heavy bottomed pan and heat the sugar until it starts to turn golden.
  • Whilst the sugar is cooking bring the cream to a boil in another pan.
  • When the caramel has reached the correct colour and all the sugar has dissolved, remove the sugar from the heat and add half the warm cream.
  • The caramel will bubble up and a lot of steam will come out, keep your hands out of the way as the escaping steam will be hot.
  • When the bubbles subside, add the rest of the cream and again when it has finished bubbling add the butter and the salt and stir.
  • Return the pan to the heat and cook the caramel until it reaches 122C, then pour the caramel into the pan and leave to set for at least 4 hours.
  • When the caramel has set, turn it out from the pan, cut the caramel into portions with a sharp knife and sprinkle the top with a little of the sea salt mixed with pepper. Then wrap the caramels in greaseproof paper and store them in an airtight container.
  • They will keep for about a week like this.

Sea salt and pepper caramels

Let me know if you give these caramels a try, I’ve got another batch at home waiting to be wrapped up and shared out among friends.

Are there any confections that you like to make? Or food gifts your friends and family ask for?

Thanks for reading.

Angela

The salt mentioned in this post was given to me for free by King's Fine Food.

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Casa Costello

9 Responses

  1. Jodie Dodd

    I would give anything to pop one of these into my mouth right now! You know how much I love caramel! I’m used to salted caramel but adding the pepper is different. Now I’m very curious about how it would taste. One of my all-time favorite snacks is sea salt and cracked pepper kettle potato chips. I’m still amazed at how simple it is to make caramel! x

    • PatisserieMakesPerfect

      Caramel is really easy to make, but I think boiling sugar is what puts people off 🙂 The pepper used in this is really mild as it’s peppercorns mixed into a salt blend, so you just get a warmth rather than a big pepper hit. x

      • Jodie Dodd

        I was telling my daughter how easy it is to make caramel after reading your posts. I want to try it but I don’t, the last thing I need to learn to make is caramel, we’ll be eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner! 😀 x

  2. Helen Costello

    These look so perfect – incredible to think they take so few ingredients. Thanks for joining in with #Bakeoftheweek New roundup now open x

  3. Lucy Parissi

    These look nothing short of absolute perfection! I really think you should start selling small batches of your bakes : ) I have these on my must make list (never made this type of caramel before). Just gorgeous #CookBlogShare

    • PatisserieMakesPerfect

      Funnily enough I have been toying around with this idea Lucy. Look out for some kind of web survey to hit your inbox in the next few weeks :-).

      These caramels are delicious and they have had so many comments from people that have eaten them and requests for me to make batches, the salt blend really makes a difference too, the better the salt, the more rounded the flavour.

      You should definitely make these, they’re soft set and really indulgent. Thanks for commenting.

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