Christmas Traditions Part 5

Up next, Neal's favorite. As a joke last year I made these caramels and, knowing they were Neal's favorite, sent him a single caramel with a Christmas card. Neither him or his roommates were impressed. So don't worry Neal, I've made up for it this year...they're on their way.

Creamy Caramels

Turn an 8 x 8 pan upside down and form a square of foil around the bottom. Flip the pan back over and fit the foil in the pan. IMPORTANT: to avoid wasting caramel, make sure you PAM the foil well!

Melt 1 C butter in a deep sauce pan.

Mix 1 3/4 C dark Karo Syrup, 2 C sugar, 1/2 C heavy cream, and 1/2 C evaporated milk in with the butter.

Mix 1/2 C heavy cream and 1/2 C evaporated milk in a separate bowl and set aside.

When saucepan mixture comes to a boil, slowly add the rest of the cream mixture.

Cook at medium heat, stirring constantly until candy thermometer reaches 242 degrees (soft ball stage). This takes about 40 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in 2 T vanilla (and 1 C chopped nuts if desired).

Immediately pour into dish and let cool completely.

Cut into squares and wrap with wax paper.

Yield: Too many for my attention span to count :) About 5 times the amount shown in the above picture.