Epicure launched an INCREDIBLE caramel sauce & I turned into actual Caramel! Find the classic sauce recipe here! I DID try cooking the sauce more to get a hard ball / soft crack but that's not the best way to make actual caramel, so I did my own thing. Many caramel recipes online require Corn Syrup, well that's not something I cook with, so I played around and this is the glorious '3 ingredient, make it in your steamer in minutes', result!
PS!! You can make CHOCOLATE CANDY APPLES using the Chocolate Fudge mix instead of Caramel in this recipe!
3 EASY INGREDIENTS 1 Pkg Epicure's Caramel Sauce
1/2 cup Butter, melted
1/2 cup Creamed Honey (I have NOT tried it with regular honey but it should work!)
The keys to a great caramel: 1) melting your sugars 2) Cooking without burning on the bottom!
Melting your sugars - The natural sugar chunks in Epicure's caramel mix are large & take longer to melt. This an optional but helpful step ➡ If you blitz down the sugars to a smaller size, this is very helpful! I tossed my pkg in my bullet for 15 seconds. OR Crush in a Mortar & Pestle, or even use a rolling pin or mallet to break them up.
Not burning the bottom - An Epicure Steamer makes cooking without burning a breeze
Let's get on with it!
Melt your butter in your Multi Purpose or Round steamer, add in your caramel sauce mix and honey. Combine well.
Melt your sugars - if you are starting with coarse sugar crystals rather than breaking them up, this will take a bit more finesse. Your caramel can start to cook (firm up) BEFORE the crystals melt, giving you crystalized caramel, so cook slowly and stir more. I cook my caramel approx 20-30 seconds at a time stirring well after each mini cook. Keep taste testing and once you feel no more sugar grains you're ready to roll (this will be under 2 mins if you crushed them first).
Determine your cook stage - Do you want a chewy caramel for turtles, coating an apple or just eating? Go for HARD BALL. Do you want a harder 'crack' type caramel? Use a cooking thermometer OR the cold water test to get the right doneness. Learn more about candy cooking stages here!
Cook your caramel - this takes no more than 3 mins in my microwave to hard-ball stage, but each microwave is so different! I start with 1 minute at a time, then drop to 30 seconds as it gets closer to completing. I do the cold water test so I can eat the test results - that's more fun than a thermometer! 😉 You CAN do this on a stove top, but need to keep the heat low until melted then stir constantly. That's not my style.
COATING MY APPLES: My first 2 apples were coated at MED Ball stage. Then I cooked to hard ball and did 2 more
The right tools for the job - Epicure's SILICON makes working with sticky caramel a BREEZE!
Use your extra caramel
Pour your any extra caramel into your Perfect petites & top with salt for Salted Caramels!
Make Salted Caramel Nut Bars
Add 4-5 nut chunks (I used the salted mixed nuts from Costco) to each hole of your Perfect Petites pan.
Using your Epicure Spoon Spatula (nothing sticks) pour hot Caramel (this recipe - hard ball stage) onto your mixed nuts.
Top with Belgian Chocolate Chips, give them a min or two to melt and then spread. I didn’t bother to try to keep it clean! The bars look fantastic without fussing!!
The extra chocolate flakes fall right off once set and I saved it to melt for future baking.
Coat your Candy Apples! I sprinkled mine with Tutti Fruiti and Cocoa Crunch. Of course, I used a twig for the candy apple stem!
REMEMBER - your Epicure caramel sauce is GLORIOUS used per the pkg as well!
FIND more uses for your steamer here: https://www.danakayal.com/post/epicure-steamer-101
Happy Growing, Cooking & Eating! 💜 Dana K
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