The original recipe was a favorite for good reason, and this version stays true to the classic while adding just a touch of vanilla for flavor. There’s even a chocolate option if you’re in the mood to mix it up. Once the candy cools and gets cut into squares, it’s ready to wrap up and share… or stash away for yourself.
Quickie gifts from kitchen nice to get: Classic caramel candy recipe from 1958
From the Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Virginia) Dec 18, 1958
Found: The perfect recipe for the classic caramel candy, that everyone can enjoy making — and eating.
Years ago when a friend of ours was at college training to be a dietitian, one of her textbooks was the invaluable “Hows and Whys of Cooking” by Evelyn G Halliday and Isabel T Noble. The girls in the dietetic class soon discovered that the book contained a mean recipe for caramels! Around holiday time, they cooked up the candy for gifts; other times of the year they made and sold batches of it for pin money.
- LaBau, Elizabeth (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 160 Pages - 09/01/2012 (Publication Date) - Quarry Books (Publisher)
Recently this caramel recipe, matched against another standard one, came out the winner. Here is our adaptation of the textbook rule. The main ingredients stay in their original proportions, but we have added vanilla because it gives these light bland caramels delicate flavor, and we’ve particularized the method so that young cooks who have not had the benefit of a home economics classroom will find it easy to follow. (Tell your youngsters, when they are making caramels, that slowly adding the cream called for in the recipe will help to prevent the mixture from curdling.)
ALSO SEE: Easy caramel-pecan cinnamon twists retro recipe from the 1950s
When big sisters go into the kitchen to make something sweet to eat, little sisters are sure to follow. We find such moppets are perfectly happy marking off and cutting up the pieces of waxed paper needed for wrapping the candy. Then when the caramels are ready to be wrapped, they’ll be ready to help do this work. But remember that small hands will “close” each candy, wrapping most successfully by twirling its ends.
Classic caramel candy: Light nut caramels
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup light cream
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Place sugar, corn syrup, cream and butter in a large (about 3 quarts) heavy saucepan; mix well.
- Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally.
- When the mixture begins to "caramelize," lower the heat and cook, stirring constantly, to 244 degrees on a candy thermometer; or until a teaspoonful of the mixture, when dropped into a cup of very cold water, forms a firm ball that does not flatten when it is removed from the water.
- Stir in the nuts and vanilla.
- Pour into one corner of a lightly-buttered cake pan (8 by 8 by 2 inches) allowing the mixture to flow and level of its own accord. Allow to stand until cold.
- Turn the block of candy onto a cutting board. Mark off into 3/4 inch squares; cut with a sharp knife. Wrap caramels individually in waxed paper.
Notes
Chocolate nut classic caramel candy
Follow recipe for light nut caramels, adding 1 square (1 ounce) unsweetened chocolate after mixture has reached boiling point.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 40 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 106Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 18mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 0gSugar: 11gProtein: 1g
Click Americana offers approximate nutrition information as a general reference only, and we make no warranties regarding its accuracy. Please make any necessary calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe, and consult with a qualified healthcare professional if you have dietary concerns.
