Eat your heart out chocolate lovers.
Caramel is a sweet syrup used in a wide variety of ways. Add caramel on top of an ice cream sundae or coat a batch of popcorn with brown sugar and caramel and bake it in the oven for some tasty caramel corn. Caramel makes the filling for many popular candies too. Caramel is thought to be invented around the 1650s. In the late 1880s, Milton Hershey, founder of the Hershey’s Chocolate Company, first opened the Lancaster Caramel Company. It is here, where he experimented with various ways to coat his caramel candies, that he learned how to make chocolate.
Heat corn syrup
Place a large, heavy duty saucepan on top of the stove. Pour six tablespoons of light corn syrup into the pot. Turn on the stove and set the temperature to medium-low, or around 250 to 300-degrees. Keep an eye on the corn syrup. If the temperature is set too high, it will burn.
Add sugar
Mix two cups plus two tablespoons of granulated sugar into the saucepan. Continue to stir constantly until the sugar dissolves into the mixture. Allow the mixture to simmer for 9 to 12 minutes, without stirring.
Distribute the color
Once the sugar starts to caramelize, the mixture may start to turn brown in color. Lift the pan off the stovetop and gently tilt it around to evenly distribute the color. Place the pan back onto the stovetop and let it continue to cook. Once the entire mixture appears golden brown, remove the saucepan from the stovetop and place it on the counter.
Add remaining ingredients
Cut three tablespoons of butter into pieces then carefully add and stir the butter using a wooden spoon. Once the butter has melted, very slowly pour 1/2 a cup of warm heavy cream into the pan. Continue to stir until the cream is thoroughly combined into the mixture. Pour the caramel into a heat-proof container and set it aside until it reaches room temperature.
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