DIY Salted Caramels

While in South Carolina I visited a sweets shop called The Chocolate Tree. It was a cute place with tons of sweets to choose from. I remember seeing the sign on the way to Nicks house from the Air Base and begging Nick to go. When we finally did go, it was too late. The shopped closed at 6:00 p.m. It was a sad day. But once more as we drove down the same street I saw the bill board and luckily enough for us, it was early in the day so I knew it had to be open. We were finally able to drop in, and I was finally able to get my sugary sweet fix. It was cold and it smelled like chocolate. It was so perfect. As I gazed through the glass I eyed every chocolate in there, trying to decide how much of a fatty I wanted to be that day, or if I wanted to limit myself. It was hard. I chose to be a fatty.

To the left of the cute turtles, was something I had been wanting for so long. Yep, you guessed it. It was a salted caramel covered in milk chocolate. I had seen these in stores in Texas for quite some time, always wanting to buy them, but always hesitant. It was time I splurged on this salty sweet deliciousness.

And there it begin. I was near obsessed. I wanted to save some to bring home, but I just couldn't. I had ate all but one. One left, which I saved for my Grandmother.

I hadn't had them since my most recent (and last) trip to South Carolina until the other day when I decided I wanted to make them. I mean, why not? It couldn't be there hard, could it? I have never made candy before, but it sounded easy, so I searched for a good recipe and came across this one. The pictures enticed me, the ingredients were practically already on hand, and the time it took and the amount it yielded, made it even better.

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Here is the recipe I adapted from Inspired Taste

Over at Inspired Taste they do a really good job at explaining the method as well as tips to making the caramel! As you can see from the pictures above, I did make the recipe with success! I made this recipe three times, a soft batch, a medium-soft batch (like the kraft caramels) and a slightly harder caramel that melts perfectly in your mouth. I wrapped them in cellophane, and wax paper and packaged them in little bags as gifts.  I encourage all sweet-tooths and caramel lovers to make this recipe because it's easy and impressive. You could even cover them with chocolate!