They say that necessity is the mother of all inventions. One winter our family was snowed in for two weeks. My kids were craving some of my Honey Caramel Apples, but we had run out of honey. So I decided to try to make agave caramel and much to our delight they were quite delicious. All of our supplies were running low in the house, but the Agave Vanilla Caramel Apples lifted everyone spirits and they were gone by the time the fabulous aroma had settled. Below is the recipe for the Agave Vanilla Caramels, you will find the directions for making it into Caramel Apples in the variations.
Ingredients
1 1/3 cup Agave Nectar
½ cup Butter
2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream (minus 2 tablespoons)
2 tbsp Vanilla Extract
1.In a heavy saucepan combine agave, butter and 1 cup of the heavy whipping cream. Aaside and remove 2 tablespoons of cream and put back in container.
2. Add vanilla extract to the remaining portion of cup of cream and set it aside until later.
3.Bring contents of saucepan to a rolling boil while stirring frequently. This is a great time to Twitteror surf Facebookwith your other hand because it takes awhile to cook and stir until the mixture darkens and thickens slightly.
4. After the mixture darkens and thickens add the 2nd cup of heavy cream with the vanilla extract.
5. Bring the mixture back up to a rolling boil and stir frequently. Again this is a good time to spend sometime on your favorite social media or read.
6. Cook until the mixture forms a fairly firm ball when dropped into cold water. If you have a candy thermometer the temperature should be between 244-250 degrees F.
7. Pour mixture into lightly buttered 8 x 8 inch glass pan and cool at room temperature
8. Once cool cut into 1 inch squares and wrap individually with wax paper
Variations
1. For Caramel Popcorn – while warm pour off prepared popcorn and enjoy warm.
2. For Caramel Apples – cool slightly and serve with sliced apples or dip whole apples and allow to cool.
3. For Salted Caramels – before wrapping sliced squares top with a pinch of sea salt.
4. For Lavender Caramels – before wrapping sliced squares add 3 to 5 lavender buds to each before wrapping.
5. For Salted Lavender Caramels – before wrapping sliced squares add a pinch of sea salt and 3 to 5 lavender buds before wrapping.
6. For Orange Caramels – add a few drops of sweet orange essential oil while still warm.
Enjoy – the variations are endless….Do you have any ideas for variations of this recipe?
Leave a Reply