Foodie, Formerly Fat

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I love sweets. Really, I’ve never met a candy, cookie, or cake I didn’t like. But, highly refined sugars don’t agree with me. And when I say they don’t agree with me I mean that I become a raving lunatic with my own personal Mr. Hyde who comes bursting out of my chest like the creature from Alien. I’m also not thrilled about the way the spike in blood sugar effects my kids and their behavior. But who can resist Salted. Chocolate. Caramels?!?!?!?!

So, I’ve taken some lessons, experimented a bit, and discovered some ways to use less refined more natural ways of sweetening desserts. They don’t always work out right (don’t ever try to use brown rice syrup to make marshmallows; it doesn’t work. At. All.) but sometimes, it turns out pretty nicely. I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from Carrie over at Deliciously Organic on this and she’s got a great list of natural sweeteners here. I also like to use organic blue agave syrup instead of corn syrups because it has less of an effect on your blood sugar levels. While they are not calorie free, they are much better for us and help keep my Mr. Hyde in check.

Salted Chocolate Caramels

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen (can you tell I love her?)

2 cups heavy cream
10 1/2 oz fine-quality semi-sweet chocolate
1 3/4 cups sucanat
1/2 cup organic blue agave syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons sea salt for sprinkling

Line bottom and sides of a square brownie pan with parchment paper.

Bring the cream to a boil in a saucepan over medium/high heat. Turn the burner off and dump in the chocolate. Leave it to rest for 2-3 minutes and then stir with a whisk to combine.

Bring sucanat, blue agave, water, and salt to a boil in a 5.5 quart heavy bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Bring it to a boil, and boil, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and pour in chocolate mixture (mixture will bubble and steam vigorously) into the pot and stir to combine.

Turn the heat back on and return the mixture to boil over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until mixture registers 255°F on a thermometer. Add butter and when it’s completely melted turn off the heat. Then carefully pour the mixture into the brownie pan. Let the caramel cool for  10-15  minutes and then sprinkle it with sea salt.

When it’s reached room temperature put the pan in the refrigerator. After 2-3 hours turn the caramel out of the pan, upside down, onto a cookie sheet or flat plate and remove the parchment paper. Return to the fridge uncovered overnight. In the morning cut into strips and then small bite sized pieces. Store in the refrigerator.

* Note: keep these caramels separated from one another when you store them, or else as soon as they touch each other they will melt together again.