Honey Caramels

General considerations

Caramels and candies offer a large variety of products in terms of flavor, color, consistency and shape. Candy making is an art of its own. The consistency of the candies depends very much on the temperature reached during heating and a candy thermometer would therefore be very useful. Other tests can be used to estimate the right temperature which is particularly important since adding honey to a recipe requires a higher temperature for caramelization which cannot always be calculated in advance.

With sufficient experience, the colour, boiling behaviour and threading of candy can be used to recognise the critical temperatures. For testing, fresh and cool (preferably chilled) water should be used each time and the pan should be removed from the heat in order to avoid overheating during the test. The following description of the signs for different stages of caramelization and candy processing is adapted from Rombauer and Rombauer Becker (1975). 

-A thread stage is reached when the candy forms a 5 cm coarse thread when dropped from a spoon. Begins at 110⁰C.

-The soft ball stage is reached when a small quantity of syrup, dropped into chilled water, forms a ball which does not disintegrate, but flattens out of its own accord or when gently picked up with the fingers. Begins at 1 12⁰C.

-The firm ball will hold its shape and will not flatten unless pressed with the fingers. Begins at 117⁰C.

-The hard ball is more rigid, but still pliable. Begins at 121⁰C.

-The soft crack stage is reached when a small quantity of the hot syrup, dropped into chilled water, will separate into hard threads which, when removed from the water, will bend. Begins at 132⁰C.

-The hard crack stage is reached when the same threads are hard and brittle. Begins at 149⁰C.

-Caramelized sugar is obtained at 154° to 170⁰C when a pure sugar syrup turns golden brown. It will turn black and lose its sweetness at about 177⁰C.

During heating the temperature rises slowly up to 105 ⁰C, but will increase much more rapidly thereafter. It should be carefully watched and controlled. Preheat the thermometer in hot water before inserting it into the candy and make sure that it does not touch the bottom of the pan. After the ingredients have been well mixed and the temperature reached 100 ⁰C, stirring should stop. Do not scrape the edges of the pan once the boiling stage has been reached as the sugar crystals on the edge will cause the candy to granulate rather than stay smooth. When the boiling point has been reached, just cover with a lid and in 2 to 3 minutes the steam will have washed off the sides. Uncover and continue without stirring. If granulation occurs anyway, add a little water and start again.

The pan should not be disturbed during cooling or when removing it from the heat for testing without a thermometer. Use only a very clean spoon for testing. The cooling candy should never be beaten, kneaded or mixed before it has cooled to 45 ⁰C.

There are two ways of cooling. The pot can be placed immediately into cold water until the pot bottom can be touched without discomfort. The other way, as described in these recipes, is to pour the hot candy onto a cold and buttered marble slab, a heavy buttered platter or a cooled tray. Pour the candy carefully as it may splash and burn somebody. Also, let the candy run from the pan and do not scrape out the stiffer material at the bottom which may have reached a different stage of crystallization and may behave differently if mixed with the rest of the batch. If adapting sugar-only recipes for use with honey, remember also that honey needs higher temperatures to reach the appropriate stage of caramelization and may require more beating (kneading) if the recipe requires it.

Should the candy have cooled too much for further processing, the mass can be carefully tesoftened in a water bath. If the syrup was cooked at too high a temperature and crystallized too hard, the candy can be reheated in a water bath with about 18 to 20% of water added and stirred constantly until it is completely liquefied. It can then be returned to the pan and heated to boiling point, covered to remove crystals from the sides of the pan, uncovered and reheated to the appropriate caramelization point.

Colouring and flavouring should proceed once the candy mass has cooled to a temperature manageable for kneading or stirring (less than 45 ⁰C). Food aromas can be incorporated at the same time. While still pliable, other ingredients such as candied fruits, nuts, ginger, coconut or jam can be added. These are more likely to be added to candy heated only to the soft ball stage. Once kneaded or mixed in, the candy can be cut into the desired shapes and coated with confectioners sugar or chocolate.

Coating with chocolate is rather tricky and requires correct environmental conditions as well as special packaging and is not possible without refrigeration in hot climates. The weather during dipping should be cool and dry, or the room should be cooler than 21 ⁰C with a relative humidity of less than 55% and should be free of draughts. Any type of bar chocolate is very slowly melted in a water bath. The chocolate is stirred until it reaches 54 ⁰C. If it is not stirred constantly at temperatures above 38 ⁰C, the cocoa butter will separate out. Remove from the heat but maintain the temperature at about 31 ⁰C. The candy needs to be maintained at about 21 ⁰C. Dip candies one at a time and let them drain on a wire rack or screen. If large quantities are prepared, the dipping should be done in a smaller, separate container. The drippings can be remelted again. The extra chocolate on the dipping fork can be used to make small designs on the candy to distinguish different fillings. Refrigerate the product for a few hours before packing.

Honey caramels

Ingredients (in parts by weight):

Heat the water in a large skillet (frying pan). Ensure that no odd flavours from the skillet can affect the product. Reduce the heat and dissolve the sugar in the hot water, stirring it to avoid caramelization on the bottom. Add the glucose, which is placed to dissolve in the middle of the syrup. The glucose may be replaced by honey and added at a later stage. Let it simmer for a while. Skim off the foam and clean crystals from the edges of the pot by covering it for three minutes. Uncover, stir and heat until the hard ball stage is reached, between 1250 and 128 ⁰C. Use a thermometer or drop test for control. Add the honey and aromas and continue heating until the soft crack stage is reached at 145 ⁰C. Pour the hot liquid onto a cold and greased su~ace or tray. Allow to cool sufficiently until a good malleability ~liabihty) is reached, spread it evenly and stamp or press out the desired shapes or forms. Let it cool for a few moments and cover with sugar crystals or powdered sugar prior to packing. These caramels can be flavoured with honey only or with other essences and herbal extracts such as vanilla, eucalyptus, liquorice or mint. The cutting has to be done relatively quickly before the caramel becomes too hard.

Butter honey caramels

Ingredients (in parts by weight):

Wet the sugar with the warm water, heat slowly and melt. Continue stirring and add the glucose, melt and heat slowly to 118⁰C. Add the butter and honey, bring slowly back to 11 7⁰C or possibly 118⁰C. Spread quickly on a cold, buttered marble suiface between two metal or wooden bars and cut rapidly with a circular knife (a round, rotating blade). Pack while still warm.

Coconut fudge

Ingredients (in parts by volume):

Stir the first S ingredients together over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Stir until boiling then cover for about 3 minutes to remove crystals from the sides of the pan. Uncover, reduce heat and cook slowly to the soft ball stage (115 to 118⁰C) without stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the coconut and butter. Pour the hot candy onto a buttered platter or pan until it is cool enough to handle, then shape it into small balls or other preferred shapes. Place them on foil or wire racks to dry. Wrap the pieces individually for packaging. For small trial batches, 1 part could be equivalent to 1 tablespoon and 16 parts equal to 1 cup.

The following recipe is very flexible since the proportions of sugar, honey and nuts can be varied in order to produce either a solid caramel bar with a few nuts, or nuts coated with caramelized sugar and honey. Availability of moisture-proof packaging materials and economical (cost) considerations determine whether the honey proportion can be increased.

Ingredients (in parts by weight):

Dissolve the sugar in the water and vinegar, place over medium heat and stir continuously. when boiling, add the honey, mix and reheat to a boil; cover for three minutes to remove crystals from the side of the pan, uncover and without stirring bring to a golden brown soft or hard crack stage according to preference. Add the nuts and cook for a few more minutes without raising the temperature. Then pour onto a cold, lightly oiled marble plate or buttered tray. Cut before the candy turns hard and wrap after cooling in moisture sealed packages or place in large glass jars for display. For candy coated nuts, with a higher proportion of nuts to sugar, the nuts should be stirred or shaken in a small amount of hot syrup. They may also be boiled briefly with the syrup. It may be found easier to immerse the nuts in a larger quantity of syrup and drain excess syrup while cooling on a wire rack. The drained candy can be reheated again after adding extra water (see general introduction at the top).

In Greece, the above recipe is popular in proportions of 1 part sugar, 5 parts honey and 5 parts roasted sesame seeds. Greek halvah (see below) is a spicier version and demonstrates another variant of this recipe.

Greek halvah

Ingredients (in parts by weight):

Heat the oil until it is very hot. Then gradually pour in the flour, stirring slowly until the flour turns brown (30-45 minutes). Meanwhile make a syrup of the sugar, honey and water, boil it for approximately 30 minutes over low heat until a soft crack stage is reached. Add the spices and nuts and also mix in the browned flour. Stir constantly over low heat until the mass has thickened. Turn off the heat and cover the pan for 5 minutes, then pour onto an oiled baking sheet, marmor or pan. when cool, cut into squares or bars and sprinkle with icing sugar or cinnamon.