Honey and Salt Caramels II

Although we love the taste of the previous caramel recipe posted, this one tends to make a caramel that is not as soft and holds up better to the warm weather.  You have a number of great local beekeepers to choose from when buying your honey including Knight Family Honey, Clifford Family Farm, and Slide Ridge Honey.  I made a batch of these this week to take to Slow Food Utah's Honey Bee Festival where a few of the girl and boy scouts were helping with the event. They were a great hit with everyone and since I received a number of requests for the recipe, I decided to post it on the blog. The most difficult part of the process is individually wrapping each caramel in waxed paper.

As for the local honey producers, Clifford Family Farm also sells pork, beef, eggs and produce which we buy either at Caputo's or at the Downtown Farmer's Market. Check out the Ricotta and Pork Meatball recipe posted previously.  I also bought some Honey Vinegar from Slide Ridge Honey which I think Bianca will absolutely love! -----Bianca's Mom


Ingredients:

4 tablespoonfuls butter, cut into pieces
1 cup honey
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream (use Winder or Meadow Gold)
1/2 teaspoonful Redmond Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoonful real vanilla extract.

1. Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper, letting the edges hang over the side of the pan. Spray with cooking spray or generously coat with butter.
2. In a medium, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
3. Add the honey, sugar, and heavy cream. Stir over medium heat until all the sugar has melted.
4. Clip your candy thermometer to the side of the pan making sure the tip of the thermometer is in the mixture but not touching the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until temperature reaches 248 degrees F.  Remove immediately from heat.
5. Quickly stir in vanilla and salt carefully since mixture will bubble up. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle on additional salt if desired.
6. Let cool. Lift out of pan and then cut into squares and individually wrap in parchment paper or waxed paper.