Salted Habanero Caramels

Welcome to the all new TFimB where it’s all sweets all the time! No not really, but it feels like it huh? This candy was actually a byproduct of the awesome dessert I made for the New England Dessert Showcase. We had a great time at the event! After I finished candying all of the habaneros for the dessert, I had this big pot of hot habanero simple syrup! I sat there wondering what to do with it. Should I use it to make cocktails like Amber suggested in a comment? How about bottling up a 6 pack of habanero soda? But this syrup had it’s own plan in mind. You see, as I sat there debating what I would make with it, I didn’t realize I had left the burner ON! The syrup was becoming caramel before my eyes! I just chilled and let it do it’s thing. Tossed in some butter and cream and threw it in the fridge. The next day I took it out and wrapped up individual candies.


Poured into a pan. I wasn’t planning on making these and didn’t have wax paper on hand because I just moved, but trust me when I say the foil was a HUGE MISTAKE.
After it firms up, wrangle some off of the foil, lightly salt, and roll up into a tootsie roll size.
I made about 20 of these, then gave up fighting with the foil.
Yum!
It’s hard to describe the heat level on these things. They weren’t THAT hot, but because you have to chew them for awhile, and the caramel gets all stuck in your teeth, they are pretty spicy by the time you are done. I put up a little warning since heat isn’t what you expect biting into a candy.
In other news, I soaked and scrubbed that pan and my roommate boiled pasta the next day and it was spicy.
I can’t really give you a recipe on this one since it was impromptu and random, but im sure you could follow any salted caramel recipe, just steep some habaneros in the sugar and water at a lower temp for a few hours before straining, then crank up the heat and caramelizing everything.
Nice. Too bad I missed the New England dessert showcase! I heard the candies were a big hit!
this is amazing i love this kind of hot 🙂