My caramel will stretch for days.
Did you know how much a caramel stretches is something a candy company will formulate for in their recipe? Sometimes you want a “short” caramel with no stretch (think when you are eating pudding and it lifts right off into the spoon). Other times you might want to bite into it and pull it back from your lips with a long tail. Maybe you need it to “stand up” and not flow when you cut it into shapes. You can manipulate the texture of caramel through ingredients and cooking techniques. I’m not talking about weird additives or starch either- there are different types of corn syrup (all labeled corn syrup) that have different carbohydrate profiles 🤓and will give you very different caramels. Or maybe you use a solid vs. liquid fat (hard coconut oil vs. vegetable oil).
I’ve formulated literally 1000s of different caramels. The most difficult was a baking piece for cookies that wouldn’t lose its shape in the oven, wouldn’t stick to the pan under the cookie, would stretch when you broke the cookie apart, and wouldn’t flatten during shipping with 100s of pounds of pressure of other caramel cases on top of it (cases on a pallet). Oh and my boss wanted it to be used in multiple baking systems- cookies/brownies/cheesecakes/etc. 😰
It. Took. Years.
🍬INGREDIENTS🍬
Shortbread
•Flour: 310 grams | 2.5 c.
•Sugar: 100 grams | 1/2 cup
•Salt: 4 grams | 1/2 tsp.
•Butter: 200 grams | 1 stick plus 6 Tbs, cut into cubes
•Brown Sugar: 38 grams | 3 Tbs.
•Vanilla: 8 grams | 1 Tbs
Caramel
•Corn Syrup: 600 grams | 2 cups
•Sugar: 400 grams | 2 cups
•Heavy Cream: 155 grams | 0.75 cups
•Sweetened Condensed Milk: 265 grams | 1 cup
•Butter: 226 grams | 2 sticks
•Salt: 4 grams | 1/2 tsp
•Baking Soda: 2 grams | 1/2 tsp.
ButterGanache
•Chocolate: 256 g | 3 bars
•Butter: 113 g | 1 stick
🍬INSTRUCTIONS🍬
Shortbread
Line a 9x13 pan with parchment, leaving some overhang on the long sides so you can easily lift the finished product out of the pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all ingredients and paddle on medium-low speed until the mixture becomes sandy and holds together when you squeeze a bit of it in your hand.
Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom of parchment-lined pan.
Bake the shortbread in a 350 degree oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool while you make the caramel.
Caramel
Combine all caramel ingredients in a large pot.
Stirring slowly but constantly during cooking, cook over medium heat until butter has melted and mixture starts to boil.
Turn heat to medium high and cook until caramel reaches 240F.
Turn off heat.
Pour on greased, flat surface that has raised edges.
When warm to touch, pour over shortbread. Let cool.
Ganache
Melt chocolate, stir in butter until smooth.
Pour over the cooled caramel layer and spread with a small spatula. Sprinkle with sea salt to garnish.
Cool in refrigerator until set. Using the overhanging parchment edges, pull the bar out of the pan. Remove parchment and slice with a sharp knife.
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