Classic Milk Caramels

This soft caramel recipe was given to me to share by a friend. It is recipe from the 1940s and uses canned milk instead of cream which was common during this era. People love these!

Prepare: 15

Bake: 45

Total Time: 1

Servings: 64 pieces

Ingredients

1 ½ cups (450g) light corn syrup
12 oz (354mL) evaporated milk
1 ½ cups (300g) sugar
⅓ cup (75g) butter or margarine
1 tsp (5mL) vanilla
½ tsp (2.5g) salt

Instructions

Prepare an 8x8 (20cm) pan by lining with foil and spraying with cooking spray or buttering. Set aside.
Place syrup and sugar into a 3 quart sauce pan, clip on a thermometer.
Heat mixture on medium low, stirring occasionally until 245F (118C) is reached.
Add in butter, stirring constantly.
Gradually add in condensed milk, taking care not to drop temperature below boiling point.
Heat mixture until it again reaches 245 - 249F (118-121C). It will start to stick to sides of pan toward the end and is easy to burn at this point. Don't stop stirring!
Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and salt. Carefully pour into prepared pan.
Cool 1 - 3 hours before cutting in pieces and wrapping in wax paper.

Notes

Non-stick pans are notorious for causing sugar to crystalize when making candy. A good stainless steel pan with a heavy bottom is ideal.
If you don't have a thermometer, you can test it by dropping a small amount in cold water. Wait several moments to allow syrup to cool before handling. A ball should form and easily flattened when removed and pressed with your fingers.
Caramel is very hot. Never leave the pan unattended and take extreme care when working with heating sugar.
Adjust the heat as necessary. Do not allow the mixture to boil over, especially on glass stovetops. Hot sugar syrup and milk products can damage glass surfaces. Electric glass stovetops are not recommended for making candies.
Do not touch or taste hot caramel. Use oven mitts and let the caramel cool completely before handling or consuming. You will be burned if you fail to heed this advice.
The lower temperature will result in a softer, stretchy caramel whereas the higher temperature range will be firmer and more chewy. It's easy to reheat the mixture, so if this is your first time, it's better to try the low end and see what you prefer. You can always put it back in the pot and reheat to higher temperatures if you don't like the consistency, but you can't go back.

Nutrition