Almost Forgot

I intended to include the caramel recipe(s) with the last post but, well, I did forget - no almost about it.  Since all of my caramels thus far are adapted from the same recipe, I'll give you the recipe for basic caramels and tell you what I've done differently.

So here's the recipe:

Basic Caramels

Recipe adapted from Charlotte Albright

Yield:  depends on how big you cut your caramels

1 Tbs butter

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup water

2 cups light corn syrup

2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 oz (one stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Lightly spray a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray and line bottom and sides of the pan with parchment.  Rub the parchment with the one tablespoon of butter, paying particular attention to the corners.  You can also melt the butter and brush it on the parchment.

 In a small heavy saucepan, combine the evaporated milk, heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk.  

Pour the water and corn syrup into a large, heavy saucepan.  Pour the sugar into the center, avoiding contact with the sides of the pan.  Add the salt.  Let sit for 15 – 20 minutes, then bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook and stir until the sugar is dissolved, about 6 to 8 minutes. Brush down the sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to remove any sugar crystals.  Stop stirring, insert a candy thermometer, reduce heat to medium and let come to a boil.  Cook, without stirring, until temperature reaches 260°F (hard-ball stage).  This may take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes, depending on your pan, stove and altitude.

Meanwhile, place milk mixture over low heat and stir until warm.  Do not boil.

When the sugar mixture reaches 260°F, stir in the warm cream and the pieces of butter.   Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until the thermometer reaches 244°F (firm ball stage), 30 to 60 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla.  Immediately pour the caramel into the prepared pan without scraping the pot.  Allow to rest, uncovered, at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours without disturbing.  

Unmold caramel by lifting the parchment paper out of the pan.  Place the caramel slab on a cutting board and cut into pieces with a very sharp, heavy knife.  If necessary, rub the knife with butter or spray with cooking spray.  Wrap the caramels with waxed paper squares, twisting ends to seal, or with foil candy wrappers.  The caramels will stick together if not individually wrapped.

And here are the variations:

For the red wine caramels, I reduced two cups of red wine (in this case, Merlot) down to half of a cup.  Keep a heat-proof measuring cup nearby to check your progress.  If you go too far, just add a little water to make it half of a cup.  The red wine reduction replaces the half cup of water in the recipe.  Everything else is the same.


For the bourbon-vanilla bean caramels, I reduced one cup of bourbon down to a quarter of a cup and decreased the water in the recipe to a quarter of a cup.  (You could also just reduce the bourbon to half a cup, but I got a little carried away with my reduction.)  This takes the place of the half cup of water in the recipe.  I split one vanilla bean lengthwise, scraped the seeds out and tossed the pod in with the milk mixture.  The seeds were reserved and added with two teaspoons of bourbon (instead of two teaspoons vanilla) at the end.

There you go.  And there will be more variations to come.

Caramel Overload

Yesterday I did drag myself to the store as I absolutely had to do; and I did make the second batch of caramels I wanted to test.  These caramels were bourbon and vanilla bean.  I didn't bother taking photos of the process, because one batch of caramel doesn't look that much different than any other (except the mauve thing).

What I wasn't thinking about in my zeal to try these caramels, was that eventually I was going to have to cut them.  Two hours and four knives later, they're finally done.  Just in time because I think my patience was about done, too.

The bourbon-vanilla bean caramels had to be poured into two 8" square pans because the Merlot caramels weren't ready to come out of the 9" x 13" yet.  I tried to pour the caramel evenly between the pans, but one of them was slighted a bit which left me with some skinny caramels.  I wanted to cut hearts like I did for Valentine's Day, but the caramel wasn't cooperating with that idea enough for me to pursue it beyond the three it begrudgingly gave up.  These caramels were definitely the most difficult to cut of all the caramels I've made. 

Until I tried cutting the Merlot caramels.  These were just a bit softer than the bourbon-vanilla bean caramels so I thought since I had three bourbon-vanilla bean hearts, I'd cut three Merlot hearts.  The first one attempted made it quite clear there would be no Merlot caramel hearts.  The generously buttered cutter is still soaking.  I managed to get about six squares cut before my thoughts started turning to caramel sauce.  These things stuck to everything.  I buttered the knife; they still stuck.  I buttered the cutting board; they still stuck.  I buttered my fingers; they still stuck.



Now while I thought cutting all of these caramels was a major pain in the posterior, you want to know what's even worse?  WRAPPING THEM!!!  I think I'll be buying some mini cupcake liners or candy cups or . . . something other than wrapping each and every one of these in little foil squares!

I still have more ideas for caramels.  They're going to wait awhile.  And I'm going to see how much a caramel cutter costs.

Bourbon Project No. 2

Tuesday's lunch with friends was quite wonderful.  We had all worked together at the university and now that they are retired and I am otherwise idle, we don't see much of one another.  I served a risotto with spring vegetables and roasted shrimp and lemon pound cake for dessert.  I would have posted the recipe for the risotto, but I didn't actually use one.  It was rather improvised.  The lemon pound cake was based on Ina Garten's lemon yogurt cake.  I didn't have any plain yogurt, however, so I used sour cream thinned with a couple tablespoons of heavy cream and snuck in a couple of tablespoons of pistachio oil basically just so I could empty the can.  Beyond those things, I believe I stuck to the recipe relatively well.

Later that evening, after having cleaned everything up of course, I decided I absolutely must test the bourbon and brown sugar pound cake.  I've had this recipe in waiting for so long that I don't even remember where I found it.  Beyond cutting the recipe in half to accommodate my loaf pan, I didn't make any significant changes to ingredients, only to technique.  It's quite lovely on its own, but a bit of heavy cream whipped with a pinch of orange zest was a nice additional also.  This may be in contention for one of the wedding cake tiers. 



Does this give any hint as to how I'll be spending my afternoon?



Bourbon & Brown Sugar Pound Cake

Cake:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbs bourbon whiskey

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Syrup:

2 Tbs freshly squeezed orange juice

2 Tbs bourbon

1/3 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Grease a 9” x 5” loaf pan and line with parchment so that the bottom and two long sides are covered.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl.  Combine the milk, vanilla, and bourbon in a measuring cup.  Set both aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the sugars on medium speed until fully combined and no clumps of brown sugar remain.  Add the butter and cream on medium-high speed about 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the paddle and bowl periodically.  Reduce the speed to medium.  Drizzle in the beaten eggs, no more than one to two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition.  Scrape the bowl after approximately half of the eggs are incorporated and again before adding the flour.  On low speed, add half of the flour mixture and mix just until combined.  Drizzle in the milk mixture, followed by the remaining flour mixture.  Mix just until combined, then finish with a spatula making sure to get down to the bottom of the bowl.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.  Bake 55 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool the cake in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, the invert cake onto the rack and remove the parchment. 

While the cake is baking, combine the syrup ingredients in a glass measuring cup and microwave for one minute.  Stir to dissolve all of the sugar.  Set aside until the cake is done.  After the cake has been removed from the pan, brush or spoon the mixture over the bottom and sides of the warm cake.  Allow the syrup to soak into the cake then turn the cake over and cool completely before serving. 

Bottoms Up

Despite my absolute best efforts to delay their stay at least a day longer, my family left for home on Friday.  It was so wonderful to have them and I only wish the weather had not waited until the very day of their departure to be pleasant.  Such is life in Southern Illinois, no?  Hopefully the next time the weather will be more accommodating, as we all decided Giant City Park needs further exploration.

Of the three things I said I would accomplish last week, only two were finished and only one last week.  Alas, the coconut cream pie is still not within my repertoire.  A remedy to take place another time.  Currently, I'm having somewhat of a fascination with using bourbon in recipes.

The bacon and bourbon jam was finished, but not until yesterday.  The recipe I started with was adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe.  Of course, given my inability to totally follow a recipe as written, I made my own changes as well.  None of the recipes I've found actually process the jam, but to do so would definitely require the pressure cooker and I'm not sure what that would do to the texture.  So for the meantime, I'll be content to refrigerate it as it doesn't make that much anyway and I doubt it's going to last long enough to go the the trouble. 

Crunchy, bacony goodness.



Although the recipe said it made
three cups, I managed two
of these half-pint jars.

Thus far I've found the jam to be quite tasty with grilled hamburgers and pretty good on crackers with goat cheese.  My taste buds are telling me that perhaps smoked gouda would be even better than the goat cheese.  I am feeling a need to test that theory.

I also happened across yet another recipe for bacon and bourbon jam that sounds rather interesting (a little more spicy) which may be on the radar for the future.  But before that, I have a recipe for bourbon and brown sugar pound cake that needs testing.  And before that, some friends coming for lunch today.  I don't think I'll involve any bourbon in that.

Bacon Bourbon Jam

Makes about a pint.

1 1/2 lbs thick cut apple wood smoked bacon, diced

1 large red onion, diced (about 2 cups)

3 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup + 2 Tbs packed brown sugar

2 Tbs molasses

1/4 cup maple syrup

6 Tbs strong brewed coffee

7 Tbs bourbon, divided (6 + 1)

Brown the bacon in batches over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fat is rendered and bacon is browned and crisp.  Remove each batch of bacon with a slotted spoon or spatula to a colander set over a plate to drain.

Pour off all but one or two tablespoons of fat from the skillet.  Don’t worry about the bottom of the skillet being totally black.  Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are softened and translucent, about five minutes.  Add vinegar, brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, coffee, and six tablespoons of the bourbon.  Bring to a boil and cook for two minutes, stirring and scraping the blackened bits from bottom of skillet with wooden spoon.  Add the bacon and stir to combine.

Transfer mixture to a six-quart slow-cooker and cook on high, uncovered, until liquid has reduced and thickened slightly and bacon is a deep burnished brown, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.   (Of note, my slow-cooker tends to run a bit warm.  I cooked on high for 2 hours and then low for 2 hours.)

Allow the jam to cool to room temperature.  Transfer to the bowl of a food processor and add the remaining tablespoon of bourbon.  Pulse until coarsely chopped.   Spoon into jars and cover tightly.  Keep refrigerated for 2 – 3 weeks.