Easiest Caramels Recipe (Microwave Version) - Cooking Classy (2024)

FAQs

How do you make Ina Garten caramel? ›

To melt caramels using a microwave, open up a bag of soft caramels, unwrap the individual candies, and place them in a microwave-safe dish. Next, add milk to the bowl, or if you'd like a richer treat, add heavy cream instead. Then, place the bowl in the microwave and heat the caramels on HIGH for 1 minute.

Add Moisture: If the sugar is melted but you still see a few crystals- sometimes adding some liquid like water or heavy cream to the mixture can help dissolve any sugar crystals that have formed and promote a smoother texture.

Sprinkle 100g of the sugar into a non-stick frying pan, add 3 tablespoons of water and place on a medium heat for about 8 minutes, or until you've got a chestnut brown caramel – don't be tempted to stir or taste it, just gently swirl the pan occasionally. Quickly and carefully divide the caramel between the ramekins.

Dry caramel is quicker to make than wet caramel, but it's also trickier: Without additional liquid, the sugar can caramelize very quickly, burning before you realize it.

You're Not Watching the Pot and the Syrup Got Too Dark

Caramel isn't one of those things you can set and forget—once the sugar starts to brown, the caramelization process happens quickly. If you're not careful, the sugar can burn and take on a bitter, unpleasant taste.

The water evaporates, leaving sugar crystals behind. If even one sugar crystal falls back into the pan of cooking caramel, it starts a chain reaction of sugar crystals and the entire pan will harden. The result? Gross, grainy caramel that is unusable in most recipes.

When milk or butter is added before heating the sugar, the milk sugars themselves can caramelize, producing a slightly different flavor and texture. Adding milk or butter helps achieve a chewy caramel texture, as opposed to hard candy.

How do I get my caramel to harden? ›

Refrigerate until cooled and hardened. (Best if you refrigerate them overnight, or for several hours. They will be easier to cut and wrap). The caramel will seem hard in the fridge after they're set, but they should be soft at room temperature.

This is how to make sweetened condensed milk caramel: Place sealed cans of sweetened condensed milk in slow cooker, fill slow cooker with water, slow cook on low for 8 hours. Output: Perfectly smooth, no stir, thick, deep flavoured caramel sauce. It's incredible!

Traditionally, caramel is made by heating sugar at a particular temperature until it melts and gradually turns brown. Usually, this process begins around 320°F, when the sugar melts and becomes a clear molten liquid. After that, if the temperature increases, the caramel will begin turning into a darker shade of brown.