Caramels

Now this is a recipe my sister and I would make with my Mum.

As with any recipe be very careful while it is boiling, as molten sugar can burn and burn quickly. A lesson my Sister learnt the hard way, my Mum always made this in an electric frypan, so she could keep the temperature even. So what happened my Sister went too close and knocked the wooden spoon which caused caramel to flick onto her arm. We instantly put it under running water, but by the end of the day she had 2 large water filled blisters which the Dr had to lance the next day.

So this is not a recipe to cook with the children, but they could watch at a distance.

Now you can make this, as we did, without a sugar thermometer all you need is a glass of water in the fridge. To test if it has got to the soft ball stage drop about a teaspoonful into the glass then squeeze with your fingers, if it form a soft ball that can be stretched it is ready.

Caramel
1 cup brown sugar, 1 x 400 gm can condensed milk, 1/2 cup unsalted butter ( mind you there was no such thing when I was a child, we just used salted butter and it didn't affect the flavor) 1 cup caster sugar

Grease and line a Lamington tray with baking paper.

Place all ingredients in a heavy based saucepan, slowly bring to the boil while stirring, continue to stir till the butter has melted and you can't feel any grittiness from the sugar.

Bring to the boil the reduce heat to a rolling simmer, simmer 10 - 15 minutes until a soft ball as been reached, by using either the thermometer or glass of water.

Very carefully pour into the prepard tin. Leave to set overnight. Remove from the fridge and cut into squares, roll in squares of greaseproof paper.

Store in the fridge.