Pumpkin Spice Caramels

By dkanon

These pumpkin spice caramels make a delicious and beautiful autumn gift for friends and family. All it takes is a little patience, the right tools, and NO STIRRING.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/16 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/16 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/16 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• good quality sea salt, for sprinkling

Details

Servings 8
Adapted from fifteenspatulas.com

Preparation

Step 1

Place the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a saucepan (don't stir it together) and cook over medium heat until amber colored (approximately 10 minutes). Again, don't stir during this process (you risk crystallizing the caramel), just swirl it gently in the pan if you need to move it around a bit.

In the meantime, heat the cream, pumpkin puree, butter, salt, and all the spices together until melted, either in a saucepan or in the microwave.

Once the sugar syrup has turned to an amber color, slowly and carefully pour in the pumpkin cream mixture, being aware that the caramel will bubble up a lot (wear oven mitts if you're concerned).

Return the pan to medium heat and cook for about 15 more minutes until it reaches 248°F on a thermometer (the soft ball stage), adding the vanilla extract right before it reaches 248.

Pour into a parchment-lined 8x8-inch pan and refrigerate for a few hours until hard enough to cut into squares, then sprinkle the tops with a little bit of sea salt. Enjoy!