Milton Snavely Hershey, the founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company, once said, “Caramels are only a fad. Chocolate is a permanent thing.” With that in mind, I figured I had better help you out by taking the caramel recipe I shared with you yesterday from the realm of fad to permanent popularity.
Once you have cut up all of your caramels, dip them in rich melted chocolate. The combination of the creamy caramel with the chocolate is pure bliss and perfect for gifting.
How to dip caramels in chocolate
Line a baking sheet with wax paper, parchment paper, or a Silpat. Now finely chop some semisweet chocolate and melt it. Dip a caramel into the chocolate. Coat completely and then lift it out with a small fork or with a candy dipping tool. Shake off the excess chocolate by rapping the fork/tool on the edge of the bowl lightly. Remove any drips from the bottom by running the fork across the edge of the bowl. Then slide the caramel onto the prepared baking sheet.
Repeat with the other caramels that you want to dip. Allow them to cool at room temperature until they are solid.
Once they are completely set, gently lift each chocolate from the baking sheet. If it has any extra chocolate on any of the sides, gently break off the excess with your fingers.
Now you can put the chocolates in candy cups and package them up for gifting!
If you want to make the caramels even more unique, you can sprinkle a few grains of different finishing salts onto the tops of the dipped caramels (before the chocolate has set). Fleur de sel or Maldon are popular choices. You could also use a variety of salts to make it fun for people to guess what type of salt was used. I played around with some samples of salts that Marx Foods sent me to try out.
I tried their Coarse Smoked Sea Salt, Gray Sea Salt, Ginger Salt, Flor de Sol, Habanero Salt, and Black Truffle Salt.
They were all fun on the chocolate dipped caramels, but my favorites were the Ginger Salt and the Habanero Salt. I liked the different layers of spiciness that these salts added to the caramel and chocolate. Delish!!
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Hand over those sea salts
These look so perfect! I'd love to have one with the habanero salt! Mmmm!
Chocolate and caramel are two of my favorite ingredients. Love your gift idea. In January (as promised), I'll be posting my new recipe for Chocolate Caramel Tofu Pie. I'll let you know when it's up. Have a fabulous holiday and new year!!
that candy dipping tool is so handy and very clever! beautiful caramels :) Happy christmas! x
Oh how yummy!
Call me crazy but I think I just now figured out why I lost you! I am not getting your feeds in my RSS anymore. I am going to try resubscribing to see if that works!
Merry Christmas you guys!
I just made some of these delicious caramels, for some reason though, mine didn't set up as well as yours did. They sort of ooze when I try to cut them and they're very sticky. I used a digital candy temp, maybe the humidity was too high here? We were in the middle of a rainstorm. Any advice from the Fuji Grandma? They were still so creamy and delicious, just really hard to dip in the chocolate! I also added a toasted pecan to the bottom of mine, YUM!
Amber— Yes, a rainstorm can definitely affect the way caramel sets up! On rainy or humid days, the cooking time can increase substantially (taking FOREVER to reach that temperature mark!) or your candy may never set up at all. Sugar attracts water, so the humidity can adversely affect your recipe. My best advice is to wait for a clear, dry day.
Also, you might want to test your thermometer to make sure it is accurate. I do this every time I make candy. Immerse it in a pan of water, and bring the water to a boil. The temperature should read 212 degrees F (100 degrees C). If it does not, you will need to adjust your recipe to reflect this. For example, if your thermometer reads 215 degrees F (102 degrees C) in boiling water, and the recipe requires that you cook the candy to 250 degrees F (121 degrees C), you will need to cook the mixture to 253 degrees F (123 degrees C).
I hope that helps!
yum yum yum! i love caramels and chocolate!
I love the different salts you've got there! I'd like to try each of the different caramels, please! Happy holidays to you and your family!
Your blog is fabulous! Photos are beautiful. Great recipe!
Yum yum yum! I love making caramels, though am admittedly a bit lazy when it comes to dipping them in chocolate :P Great idea, using the different salts!
I made caramels a few years ago for Christmas presents and just had the best time!
I love chocolate covered caramels and what fun to try them with a variety of salts!
I enjoy making candy so much. Never tried Chocolate covered caramels though!
Hey Fujimama =) i love the way your caramels look! I was searching for some chocolate caramels and i stumbled upon these.Do you think these would work as well if i incorporated some chopped chocolate into it RATHER than coating it in chocolate? Have you ever tried that? Planning on sending them in parcels to the hubs office. =)