Sea Salt Caramels

Deep breath - I'm about to share one of my MOST FAVORITE recipes EVER!  It's very addicting and I don't mean that lightly.  Once made, this barely lasts a full day around here.  It's just something about the sea salt, sugar, and cream. 

A little background -

So there I was...in Whole Foods...staring at all of the caramels in the sweets display case.  It happened to be my birthday so I bought a few chocolate covered sea salt caramels.  They didn't make it to the car.  It's a long way home from Whole Foods - I kept wanting more caramels to magically appear in my empty bag.  So, I thought there HAS to be a way to make caramels at home.  After some research (and some recipes that just don't cut it), I found this to be the
BEST EVER CARAMEL RECIPE!

Fleur de Sel Caramels from epicurious
1 C heavy cream
5 T unsalted butter
1 tsp coarse sea salt (plus 1 T for the final step)
1 1/2 C sugar
1/4 C light corn syrup
1/4 C water

Line 9x12 baking pan with parchment paper (the recipe calls for an 8x8 pan - I like my caramels on the thin side so I use a larger pan.), then lightly oil parchment.  Bring cream, butter, and salt to a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and set aside.

Boil sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 3-4 quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. 

Boil without stirring but gently swirling pan, until mixture is a light golden caramel.

In the next few pictures, you'll see how the color changes from an off-white to a golden brown.

Carefully stir in cream mixture (mixture will bubble up)

and simmer, stirring frequently, until caramel registers 248 F on thermometer
(about 10-15 minutes). 

Pour into baking pan.  

This is where I add my own touch. 

Just before the caramel is set, 

I sprinkle the caramel with more coarse sea salt.

Chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. 

Lift the caramel from the pan
with the parchment paper
and place it on a flat surface. 

Cut into 1" squares with a pizza cutter. 

Chill caramels for another 90 minutes and enjoy!