Recipe: Salted, Peppered Caramels

Salted, Peppered Caramels

Salted caramels have been all the rage for a while—the combination of sweet and salty is irresistible, but so is the kick of warmth freshly ground pepper adds to a soft, chewy caramel.

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup butter
1 cup whipping cream
½ cup corn syrup or Lyle’s Golden Syrup
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp flaky sea salt

Butter an 8-by-8-inch pan or line with parchment paper. In a heavy medium saucepan, combine sugars, butter, cream and syrup and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil.

Cook until mixture reaches 244°F on a candy thermometer, then remove from heat, stir in pepper and vanilla and pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with salt and let stand at room temperature until set. Cut into squares and wrap each individually in parchment. Makes about 1 lb.

Recipes by Julie van Rosendaal
Photographs and styling by Gabriel Cabrera