Author Notes: I recently made the fetching brown butter pumpkin layer cake featured on the cover of the latest issue of Fine Cooking. That batter just cried out to be sampled. It tasted as I imagined pumpkin caramels would. Seeing as serving raw cake batter is frowned upon these days, I had to come up with a safer alternative to this wonderful taste profile. – cheese1227 —cheese1227
Food52 Review: Cheese1227’s caramels really evoke the essence of fall, and her approach is elegant not heavy-handed. The earthiness of pumpkin, softened with cream, permeates each chewy bite, followed by a whisper of spice, and the delicate crunch of fleur de sel is a clever detail, offsetting the sweetness of the candy. The toasted pepitas are addictive even on their own (make sure to save some for the bottom of the baking dish!); they give each of the finished caramels a beautifully lacquered, dusty green cap. – A&M —The Editors
Makes: 64, 1-inch caramels
Ingredients
-
2/3 cup unsalted pepitas
-
1 1/2
cups heavy cream
-
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
-
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
-
2 cups white sugar
-
1/2 cups light corn syrup
-
1/3 cup good maple syrup
-
1/4 cup of water
-
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in chunks
-
1 teaspoon lemon juice
-
3/4
teaspoon fleur de sel
Directions
- Dry toast the pepitas in a skillet until they start to pop.
- Line the bottom and the sides of an 8-in square glass pan with parchment. Butter the parchment on the sides of the pan. Evenly spread out the toasted pepitos on the bottom of the pan, on top of the parchment.
- In a saucepan, combine heavy cream, pumpkin puree and spices. Get this mixture quite warm, but not boiling. Set aside.
- In a second heavy bottomed pan, with sides at least 4 inches high, combine the sugar, both syrups and water. Stir until the sugars are melted, Then let it boil until it reaches 244 degrees (the soft ball point on a candy thermometer). Then very carefully add the cream and pumpkin mixture, and slowly bring this mixture to 240 degrees as registered on a on a candy thermometer. This can take awhile — like 30 minutes — but don’t leave the kitchen, watch it carefully and stir it more frequently once it hits 230 degrees to keep it from burning at the bottom of the pan.
- As soon as it reaches the 240, pull it off the heat and stir in the butter and lemon juice. Stir vigorously so that butter is fully incorporated.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Let cool 30 minutes and sprinkle the salt over the top. Let the caramels fully set (at least 2 hours) before using a hot knife to cut them into 1-inch squares and wrapping them individually in waxed paper.
1 of 31
2 of 31
3 of 31
4 of 31
5 of 31
6 of 31
7 of 31
8 of 31
Photo by Food52
We used organic canned pumpkin, but use homemade if you have it.
9 of 31
Photo by Food52
The pumpkin, cream and spices get heated to just below boiling. Looks good enough to drink!
10 of 31
Photo by Food52
Toasting the pepitas really brings out their nutty flavor — we couldn't stop munching on them!
11 of 31
Photo by Food52
After we put the sugar and maple syrup in the pot, we noticed that it reminded us of making maple candy in the snow.
12 of 31
Photo by Food52
Cheese1227 is very precise with temperatures and instructions, which is helpful when making candy: first, you heat the sugar and syrups to 244 degrees.
13 of 31
Photo by Food52
In the meantime, Amanda uses a nifty trick to line the baking dish with parchment. Watch our upcoming video to see how it's done!
14 of 31
Photo by Food52
She cuts diagonal slits in each of the corners of a square of paper, when then allows the paper to fold over itself and fit snugly into the corners of the dish.
15 of 31
Photo by Food52
Curious eyes look on as Merrill butters the paper so that the caramel doesn't stick.
16 of 31
Photo by Food52
When adding the hot pumpkin and cream mixture to the sugar, you should work slowly and carefully, whisking all the time — this is one of those times when having another set of hands really…
17 of 31
Photo by Food52
As cheese1227 explain, returning the candy to 240 degrees once you've added the pumpkin and cream can take a while — it took us about 20 minutes.
18 of 31
Photo by Food52
Amanda tips the toasted pepitas into the pan, to form the bottom (later, the top) layer of the caramels.
19 of 31
Photo by Food52
20 of 31
Photo by Food52
The candy thickens, and the pumpkin color intensifies as it cooks down.
21 of 31
Photo by Food52
Once you reach 240 degrees, in go some butter and a splash of lemon juice.
22 of 31
Photo by Food52
Another time when four hands are better than two…
23 of 31
Photo by Food52
24 of 31
Photo by Food52
After the caramel has cooled a little in the pan, we added a generous sprinkling of sea salt.
25 of 31
Photo by Food52
We gently patted in the salt to make sure it would stick.
26 of 31
Photo by Food52
After waiting impatiently for a couple of hours for it to set completely, we turned the candy out of the dish.
27 of 31
Photo by Food52
28 of 31
Photo by Food52
The paper peels back easily, revealing a gorgeous candy mosiac.
29 of 31
Photo by Food52
It slices beautifully — use a sharp knife, and dip it in hot water if you need to (we didn't).
30 of 31
Photo by Food52
31 of 31
Photo by Food52