First of all have you had one of these??
It's a Salted Caramel Mocha from Starbucks. If not, go try it!
Second, are you on pinterest? I'm totally addicted, I can't seem to help myself. I sit there and flip through all these gorgeous crafts and recipes, and some I actually try...like today's recipe. Like I've said before I sort of pick and choose from recipes and make it my own. I liked this and this. Let's begin!
First of all, if no one told you (like no one told me) making caramel is a serious thing. This is not something you just do in 15 spare minutes. They are delicious, but they require some work. It's not impossible, just be sure you have the time and patience required...oh and the thermometer. Seriously, you need a good one, temperature's are very important!
Ok, remember the pumkin?? Well that's where we get our Pumpkin Seeds!
Ok you take your Seeds
and boil them
No kidding...stick with me here.
For every 1/2 cup of seeds you need a cup of water. For every cup of water you need 1/2 teaspoon of salt. *Believe me, you'll be glad you did this step.*
Then drain and put in an oiled (tbsp or so of EVOO) pan
Salt them with some coarse salt. Not too much, just rather lightly.
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or so. Mine took 25 minutes.
I forget how much I love these.
You may eat as is. In fact, please do.
For this recipe though, crack them to get the deliciousness inside.
Then spread the deliciousness into a pan that had parchment paper. (Oil the parchment). You totally need the parchment, totally need the spray on the parchment.
Now on to the other part!
You'll need one teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, I just made my own. Here's how:
Measure 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon into a small bowl or cup.
Add 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger.
Add 1/8 teaspoon of ground allspice or ground cloves.
Add 1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
Stir to blend.
Makes 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.
Here's what else you need:
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2/3 cup of pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup water
4 tbsp butter, cut into chunks
1 tsp lemon juice
coarse salt
You will also need two pans. One needs to be fairly large because as the syrup cooks it grows and bubbles...it's amazing.
In your smaller pan we have the heavy cream, pumpkin puree and spices.
Heat until scorched. Scorched means that it's hot, but just below the boiling point. It'll need stirring a few times because it will form that skim on the top.
Aren't we looking fall-ish!
In your larger pan heat the syrup, honey and sugar. Let the sugar melt and do all it's caramelly goodness.
Here's where you need your thermometer. You want to get to 244 degrees. After you hit about 220 or so you're going to need to be stirring, constantly. Make sure your pan is at least 4 inches high, I would be more comfortable with 6 inches or so. You do not (believe me!) want this stuff to boil over. It leaves a lovely sticky film on everything!
I had to stir with an oven mitt on because it's crazy how much steam this baby creates and 244 degrees is pretty serious!
Once you get to 244 degrees SLOWLY add your cream and pumpkin mixture.
Now you want to get your temp back up to 244.
This could take a while, it took me at least 30 minutes. It gets back up to the 220's pretty fast, but it's the last bit there that takes so long.
Keep an eye on it, it starts getting thick really fast and you'll want to keep it from sticking to the bottom.
Once you get to 244 degrees, take it off the heat where we'll add out butter and lemon juice.
Stir well to work the butter in evenly.
Here's what we have!
Now, pour (slowly) over your pumpkin seeds.
After it has cool for about 30 minutes or so, sprinkle your coarse salt and press it in (just a little)
Now you'll have to let it set in a cool dry place for at least 2 hours. The longer the better.
Then flip it out of the pan and remove the parchment
Then cut into cute little squares!
The easiest way to keep these is to wrap in parchment.
These were quite delicious. Next time, I would probably half the recipe because that's alot of caramels. But they have this slight pumpkin flavor that add so much to the candy. And who doesn't love pumpkin seeds!
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