CARAMEL FIRE: Vanilla-Espresso-Cannabis-Caramel with Sea Salt

ichibancrafter

4 years ago

By Troy Ivan
ibc@ichibancrafter.com

I was asked to submit a recipe for World Baking Week, and in considering what to submit, I decided I wanted something that would make a cannabis recipe attractive, relatable, and enticing enough to encourage someone to try making their first edible while still being so good seasoned edible makers would also enjoy it. There are many cliched edibles like brownies, gummies, and such, but I wanted something that resides more in the comfort food fold, so I decided on caramels! I know it’s not “baking,” but it’s caramel so close enough? I asked for recommendations and received many great suggestions and settled on the recipe from Inspired Tastes (click for link) which was adapted from the original recipe of Jacques Pepin and the book, “Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook” as my starting point. I chose this as a starting point because I liked the softness of the texture and the pace of how it melts in your mouth.

The original recipe makes great caramels, but I had to medicate it and make the flavor my own. I added three of my favorite things: vanilla, espresso, and a beautiful cannabis concentrate. My espresso extraction is detailed in my blog post Espresso Extraction: Bold Bean Flavor With a Punch. You can make the vanilla extract yourself, but considering the scarcity and price of vanilla these days, it may be better to purchase an off-the-shelf vanilla extract. If you want to make your own, you can follow the same instructions as for making the espresso extraction. The final touch was a beautifully clean, full spectrum, decarbed cannabis oil. If cooking with cannabis concentrates (not infusions) is unfamiliar, my blog post, Cooking With Cannabis Concentrates, can be very helpful.

The results of the modified recipe really show my preferences for flavor and balance; the candy begins with the full but soft sweetness of caramel, light vanilla floating in as it melts, an occasional sea salt-crunch contradiction, and then finally, a most excellently bold but controlled espresso finish that lingers. The cannabis flavor is super clean and relatively faint; you might be able to pick it out of the background. With all this preamble nonsense out of the way, let’s do what I do best and get to crafting!

INGREDIENTS

½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup heavy cream (36%-40% fat)
3 Tbsp water
¼ cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract *
1 tsp espresso extract **
1 g (or more) Decarbed Cannabis THC or CBD concentrate***
½ tsp course or flake sea salt

* Store-purchased vanilla extract usually is 35% alcohol by volume. When using a vanilla extract made yourself, adjust the strength accordingly.

** For best results in this recipe, using a good quality espresso bean you like and making the extract yourself is a great treat. The 1 tsp is for a pretty dense extract. If you are using an alcohol-heavy extract, adjust accordingly.

*** I used a very clean, high-quality, full spectrum, decarbed extract (pictured above). If you use a heavy RSO/FECO extract, these caramels will be overpowered by the green flavor and probably clash hard with the espresso. I highly (no pun intended) recommend cooking with clean concentrates. Make sure you use a concentrate made by extraction, not an infusion with carrier oil or butter in it. Please pay close attention to dosing; if you aren’t sure, please refer to the dosing section in the Cooking With Cannabis Concentrates post. Using 1g of 70% purity will end up with around 10 mg per piece in this recipe, depending on how many pieces you cut into. Please add more to increase potency as you like.

EQUIPMENT

Candy making thermometer is very important.
Small saucepan.
Two 7”x7” silicone boxes.
- The boxes make about 36-1” thin square pieces each. I liked the result of taking the 7” x 7” full square after cooling and rolling it, letting it set, and then cutting it into thicker shapes as well.
Or a 9”x5” loaf pan.
- The 9”x5” pan allows for thicker pieces if desired.
For larger batches, 4x this recipe to make a perfect ½ sheet.

PREPARATION

Prepare Containers

Lightly grease the silicone boxes. If using a loaf pan or ½ sheet, oil the pan/sheet and line with lightly oiled parchment paper. Include an overhang to form an inch or so boundary along all edges.

Prepare Butter and Heavy Cream Combination

Cut butter into pieces for easy melting. Combine butter and cream and microwave for 1-2 minutes until butter is melted. Cream in a microwave can make a mess, so keep an eye on it. It only needs to be warm enough to melt the butter. Set aside to use later.

Place a Small Sauce Pan With a Candy Thermometer Attached Over Medium Heat

Combine water and corn syrup.

Stir in sugar gently to wet it. Avoid getting sugar on the side of the pan. Leave mixture over heat without stirring and bring to a boil.

Boil without stirring until 320°F (about 5-10 minutes). If there appear to be hot spots developing in the pan, gently swirl to move the molten sugar around a little. A beautiful amber caramelization will develop and create the color for the end product.

At 320°F, incorporate the butter and cream combination slowly and carefully, beginning with a little and gradually increasing. This step will boil violently and can boil over if too much of the liquid is added too quickly, so execute with caution.

The temp will drop after adding the butter and cream. Heat until 235°F for a soft texture and up to 255°F for something more firm, and remove from heat.

Add Extracts

Once removed from heat, allow to cool to around 220°F and gently fold in cannabis concentrate thoroughly combine. A uniform inclusion of the cannabis is essential for reliable dosing. Heating the concentrate in preparation for this step will make combining much easier. Stirring caramel is usually not recommended, but we must break the rules to medicate.

When the temperature is down to around 200°F, slowly and carefully stir in the vanilla and espresso concentrates. If there’s alcohol in the extracts, it will boil violently, so be ready as you add it. We are still breaking the no-stirring rule, but we do what we have to do!

Pour, Cool and Cut

Pour into box, pan, or sheet and cool for 30 minutes and top with sea salt.

Allow to cool further for 2-3 hours, then refrigerate for an hour. Refrigerating will firm up the caramel to make removal from the box, pan, or sheet easier.

If using the silicone boxes, the caramel should be firm enough to pop the squares of caramel out and place on parchment paper for cutting. For the loaf pan or ½ sheet, transfer caramel to dry parchment paper and cut accordingly.

I use a pizza cutter to easily and quickly cut into squares. Another person can hold a straight edge above the caramel and steady the caramel sheet from sliding if you want very straight lines.