Sweet December: Fleur de Sel Caramels

It's been quite a month so far...
I have spent a lot of time in the kitchen and at the post office. Some lucky friends and family have received my Christmas Cookies & Candy. I started making holiday treats long before I became a chef. My mom used to make divinity and I always loved making cookies for my friends. My candy skills have grown over the years but my favorite cookie recipes are the simple familiar ones, with a new twist. I made my peanut butter cookies and used M&M's instead of chocolate chips and rolled them in either red or green sugar before I baked them. They turned out pretty and seem to be a favorite among my friends.

I made vanilla marshmallows which is secretly my favorite thing to do EVER. The science of it is pretty awesome. The result is so amazing and wonderful I would run out of descriptive words if I told you how I really felt about them. I added crushed peppermint candy canes to the tops before they set up and it was not only pretty, but a great texture contrast.

The overall winning holiday recipe for me is a toss up. I can tell you that the cookie recipe I'm now obsessed with is Capt'n Crunch Berries-White Chocolate-Fruity Marshmallows. It's a twist on the also awesome Cornflakes-Mini Chocolate Chip-Marshmallow cookies from my favorite cookbook, Momofuku Milk Bar by a fellow French Culinary alum who is the chef at their sweet joints in NYC and Brooklyn. I refuse to repost her recipe because I think you should all buy the book. I will however, share my sweet recipe for Fleur de Sel Caramels. My favorite candy. Beloved by foodies this is a treat that sings when you bite into it. They are not as hard as the store bought caramels but you haven't had a caramel until you've had it with salt.

Fleur de Sel Caramels

2 cups white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup evaporated milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup butter (unsalted)
1 1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 tsp Fleur de Sel (it's salt, but the only salt I use for baking) plus more for topping the caramels

Lightly spray a glass or ceramic baking dish with non stick spray (not the flour kind).

In a large heavy bottom pot combine all the ingredients except the vanilla and salt. Bring to a boil and cook until a candy thermometer reaches 250 degrees F stirring constantly. The mixture will expand so make sure you are using a large pot. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and teaspoon of Fleur de Sel. Pour into prepared dish and allow to set. It will take a while to cook and a long time to cool. Cut into small rectangles and sprinkle with Fleur de Sel. Wrap in traditional wax paper. Send some to my mom because she loves them.