Black Pepper and Bourbon Caramel Chews
Updated September 19, 2022
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 40 minutes, plus cooling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
420 grams granulated sugar (about 2 cups)
2 cups heavy cream
6 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons bourbon
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons black pepper
Nutritional analysis per serving
10 grams carbs; 13 milligrams cholesterol; 81 calories; 1 gram monosaturated fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 4 grams fat; 15 milligrams sodium; 10 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment and coat with cooking spray.
- Step 2
In a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, combine sugar, cream, honey, bourbon and salt. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot. Cook mixture, stirring frequently, until it reaches 245 degrees, 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the pot. Quickly stir in butter and pepper.
- Step 3
Pour mixture into prepared pan. Let cool completely until it is set to a semi-firm consistency, about an hour. Cut into 50 rectangular pieces and wrap in parchment paper, cellophane or other candy wrappers, twisting ends to seal.
Private Notes
Comments
These were great but I couldn't taste the bourbon at all. Next time, I'll use 1/4 cup bourbon (4 tbsp) and reduce it down on its own to a light syrupy consistency to cook off the alcohol and add it at the end with the butter.
I followed the 4 tbs bourbon advice and increased to 1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt. Good, soft, sweet and savory. What’s not to like?!
100% agree on using a larger pot than 2 qt. This will come close to doubling in size while boiling. It probably took 30+ minutes for it to come to temp, on the largest burner at the highest temp. If the wrapping aspect is frustrating, it might help to freeze them briefly before cutting.
My 8”x8” pan produced a 7.5”x7.5” slab of caramel. To get 50 pieces I cut them in 1.5”x.75” pieces but I think I could have gone smaller. Erred on the side of caution and cooked to 250° which produced a medium-firm caramel. Next time will try to 245° as written and will reduce pepper by at least a quarter. Flavor was good, but I thought the spice was a little too strong. Bourbon not detectable.
For those noting that it takes a good long while for the mixture to come to temp, yes. The water portion of the cream and bourbon has to reduce way down and a small 2 qt pot has a larger volume compared to the surface area of the bottom of the pot, which means it takes longer still. Bravo to those who suggested using a 3 qt pot, that did the trick! Interesting flavors and I've purchased some bourbon extract to add to the mix to bump up the bourbon flavor next time I make these.
I heated to 255 as recommended by many commenters, and the caramels are not soft. I’m going try again and heat just to 245 as prescribed in the recipe for soft caramels. I purchased silicone caramel molds from Amazon so the shapes are perfect and no need to mess with cutting. I did spray the silicone molds with cooking spray.