How To Make Fleur De Sel Caramels

When I'm craving an exquisite dessert or want to make a sweet gift for someone this is my go to recipe courtesy of Ina Garten.

Ingredients
Vegetable oil (I use coconut oil spray but you can use any oil that is flavorless like vegetable oil or pam)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup heavy cream
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon fine fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Parchment paper to line the pan and to wrap caramels in
8" x 10" rectangle pan or a square pan close to those dimensions.

Directions

To Prep the pan, just line it with foil and parchment paper (you don't have to use foil but I like to), allowing it to drape over 2 sides so you can remove the caramels easier. Brush or spray the lined pan with a flavorless oil or pam.

Gather your ingredients and lets get started!

Boil the sugar.
In a deep saucepan (6 inches wide and 4 1/2 inches deep), combine 1/4 cup water, the sugar and corn syrup and bring them to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil until the mixture is a warm golden brown. Don't stir -- just swirl the pan.

This is the color you want to see, be careful not to burn the sugar. A color a bit darker is also ok , just watch it carefully because it can burn in a blink of an eye.

Heat the cream.

In the meantime, cut up 5 tbsp of butter and combine it with 1 cup of cream and 1 teaspoon of fleur de sel in a small pan. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Finish the caramel.

When the sugar mixture is done, turn off the heat and slowly add the cream mixture to the sugar mixture. Be careful -- it will bubble up VIOLENTLY.

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the mixture reaches 248 degrees F (firm ball) on a candy thermometer.

Fill the pan.

Very carefully (it's hot!) pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate for a few hours, until firm. I like to use the technique of high pouring(VERY CAREFULLY). As the caramel falls into the pan, it cools a bit which could be essential to you being able to lift the caramels off your parchment paper once they cool completely. I made these a long time ago and did not use this high pouring technique, so I ended up peeling all the parchment paper piece by piece since it got stuck due to high heat.

Cut the caramel.

When the caramel is cold, pry the sheet from the pan onto a cutting board. Cut the square in half.
Cut into rows, then cut in smaller pieces like and excel sheet about 1/2" by 1" wide. It's easier to cut the caramels if you brush the knife with flavorless oil like corn or vegetable oil.If its taking you a while to cut the caramels, just work with 1/2 of the sheet at a time keeping the other in the fridge. Keeping the caramels cold is essential for you not to get frustrated with the cutting and separating  process. Sprinkle the log pieces with fleur de sel salt as you start to wrap them.

Wrap the candies.

Cut the parchment paper into 4-by-5-inch pieces and wrap each caramel individually, twisting the ends. Store in the refrigerator and serve the caramels chilled. I made mine as gifts, and I used plastic wrap, ribbon and twine to wrap them into little satchels.

 

ENJOY!!! XOXOX

Home Made Corned Beef Brining Kit - DIY Gift Idea.

 

So when it comes down to presents or anything home made, it's sure to be more memorable than store bought. For the holidays this season I decided to make some home made gifts. One of them was a brining kit for corned beef. I wanted to make it super easy and cute. This kit is basically the brine to make corned beef meat. The card I included with it below has the recipe on what to do with the meat once its  brined and make roasted corned beef with cabbage. I used Alton Brown's recipe from foodnetwork for the brine kit itself, and altered his recipe for the corned beef and cabbage recipe (so it can be suited to this kit and no one gets confused). If you plan on making this kit, make sure you give yourself enough time to find SALTPETER. Its an ingredient (potassium nitrate) you can find mostly online or in very old pharmacies (ma and pa style). Its used to preserve the meat and give it the famous pink color. You most likely will have to have it shipped to you. I made 4 brining kits so don't get confused when you see the pix.

I designed a little card that can be folded and used as a tag. If you like this, just print it and add your name to where its says "From the kitchen of: ". Cut the paper in half and you will have 2 foldable cards. I printed mine on thick glossy paper so it feels more like a card.
 

For EACH brining kit you will need:
1 20oz to 24oz jar
1 printed foldable card from above - (the sheet makes 2 cards) - (or make your own)
2ft ribbon
2ft yarn string or lace
1 rustic cinnamon stick for bow decoration

Contents For Brine:
1 2gallon ziplock bag           
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons saltpeter            
1 cinnamon stick, broken
1 tsp toasted mustard seeds
1 tblp toasted coriander seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
8 whole cloves
8 whole allspice berries
12 whole juniper berries
3 bay leaves, crumbled
1/2 tsp ground ginger

To toast your mustard seeds, get your nonstick pan hot, measure how much you need per kit, toast a few seconds till you hear them pop, then take them out and cool in small bowl till ready to pack. Same thing with coriander seeds, once you toast your mustard seeds and take them out toast your coriander. These might take longer to hear that pop sound. DO NOT BURN. Once you have coriander toasted add them to your small bowl with mustard seeds.

Crush your bay leaves

  

Crush cinnamon sticks and gather your measuring cups and spoons to portion out the spices.

 

Print cards and gather your jarring materials and spices.

 

 

Start measuring out how much ingredients you need from the list above to compile your kit.

   

Place your measured ingredients into your 2 gallon zip-lock bags but be careful not to let the spices puncture through the bag. This bag will later on be used to brine the meat in.

 

 Carefully place your bag into the container, get the air out and zip it.

Tie the ribbon around the lid of your jar in a double knot. Cut a hole in your recipe card and string it onto your yarn or lace then tie it on top of your ribbon. Grab your cinnamon stick and tie it with the ribbon ends,

 Tada!

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Ready to use your kit and brine the meat????

1 large pot to heat and combine brine ingredients
2 quarts water
2 lbs ice (8 cup loose measure)
1 (5 lb) beef brisket, trimmed

 

Mix jar contents with 2 quarts water in a large pot & bring to a boil. 

 

Once mix boils, remove from heat & add 2 pounds ice(8 cups loosely measured).Stir, allow to melt & cool completely for 10 min. 

 

Place brisket in a 2 gallon ziplock bag then pour brine mix over top. Seal bag & place in a large container with lid. 

Keep refrigerated for 10 days. Every 2 days flip the bag over to get even brine distribution. Read card for recipe instructions to make corned beef and cabbage.

CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW TO COOK YOUR BEAUTIFUL BRINED CORNED BEEF.