I love caramel. If I had to choose between chocolate and caramel, I’d hands down choose caramel. And though this recipe in itself is pretty much a health hazard, both to cook and to eat, it really is worth it as long as you have it once in a while. With the copious amount of sugar, the cream, the butter and the salt, I couldn’t help but think that the serving size is a little too big, so I cut mine into 16s instead of 8s. As always, feel free to stick to the original recipe.

Sea Salt Caramels (recipe from Cookin’ Canuck): 

[ 1 1/2 cups sugar + 1/4 cup light corn syrup + 1 cup heavy cream + 5 tablespoons unsalted butter + 1 teaspoon sea salt or fleur de sel ]

* Prep work:

Line an 8-inch-square baking pan with parchment paper, allowing it to drape over 2 sides, then brush the paper lightly with oil.

* Making the caramel:

In a small pot, bring the cream, butter and 1 teaspoon of fleur de sel to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat and set aside.

In a deep saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water 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.

When the sugar mixture is done, turn off the heat and slowly add the cream mixture to the sugar mixture.

* *Be careful, the mixture will bubble up violently once you add in the cream mixture.

Keep stirring and cook over medium-low heat for about 10-15 minutes, until the mixture reaches 248 degrees F (firm ball) on a candy thermometer.

Very carefully pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate for a few hours, until firm.

When the caramel is cold, pry the sheet from the pan onto a cutting board. Cut the square in half.

Starting with a long side, roll each of the caramel up tightly into an 8-inch-long log.

Sprinkle the log with extra sea salt, trim the ends and cut into 8 pieces.

Start by cutting the log in half, then continue cutting each piece in half until you have 8 (or 16) equal pieces.

** It’s easier to cut the caramels if you brush the knife with flavorless oil like corn or canola oil.

Serve or wrap individually in 4-by-5-inch pieces of parchment paper, twisting the ends. Store in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!