Chokladkola: Chocolate Caramels
Chokladkola: Chocolate Caramels are rich, chewy, and chocolatey. They take a bit of work but are well worth the effort. Like all caramels they last several weeks at room temperature and so make an excellent gift.
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Which Chocolate?
I personally like to use 80% dark chocolate for these caramels. It provides bitterness, depth, and tempers the sweetness of the caramel. However this recipe would work just as well with 60% or 70% chocolate. The resulting caramels will be a bit sweeter, of course, but still delicious!
Caution
As always when working with hot sugar use caution! Sugar burns can be extremely bad. Work carefully and slowly!
Working quickly
When making the caramels it’s important to work quickly. The caramel starts to set as soon as it cools. Once emulsified and there are no streaks of caramel left in the chocolate, pour immediately into a greased pan. Don’t wait around!
Where’s the Recipe From?
This recipe is adapted from one I used to work with waaaay back in 2014 when I was just a little baby pastry cook in San Francisco. I used to work at a bakery called Craftsman and Wolves and they had a line of confections called Separation Anxiety. One of the confections were dark chocolate shoyu caramels. I was obsessed with them! Shoyu is Japanese style soy sauce and it gives the caramels such a complex flavor. I took that recipe, took out the shoyu (to make the caramels more approachable and more Swedish), tweaked it a bit and created the recipe below. They still have a touch of bitterness from the dark chocolate and their texture is perfectly chewy. I’m so happy with this recipe for Chokladkola: Chocolate Caramels!
Chokladkola: Chocolate Caramels
Ingredients
- 600 g cream
- 90 g honey
- 115 g butter
- 150 g dark chocolate
- 8 g salt
- 900 g sugar
Instructions
- Start by oiling a heatproof rectangular pan. Line with parchment, oil the paper, then set to the side.
- Melt the dark chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Set aside.
- Combine cream and honey in a small pot and bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, take off the heat and set to the side.
- In a large pot make a dry caramel. Gradually add the sugar, melting as you go. This is easier than melting all the sugar at once.
- Cook until it’s around 165-170°C (329-338°F). Once it comes up to temperature, turn the heat off.
- Gradually pour the hot cream into the caramel a little at a time, stirring continuously. Do NOT add it all at once. The caramel bubbles up a LOT with each addition of cream and you do not want this to overflow.
- Cook the caramel until it reaches 110°C (230°F).
- Stir in the butter and continue cooking to 125°C (257°F).
- Pour a couple of tablespoons of caramel into the melted dark chocolate. Whisk together.
- Add another couple of tablespoons of caramel to the chocolate and whisk again. The chocolate will split, this is normal and expected.
- Repeat this process until the chocolate and caramel have emulsified, meaning they’ve come together into a smooth mixture.
- Once emulsified, you can pour the remaining caramel into the chocolate. Stir until there are no streaks left.
- Immediately pour the mixture into the pan, spreading it evenly.
- Allow the caramel to crystallize and set at room temperature for about 24 hours.
- Once set, cut into pieces. Wrap in parchment if desired.