Caramel toffee with Maldon sea salt: Deliciously salty sweet gifts!!

Sweet and salty, always make food more delicious. I think it's the same for this toffee ^^. Caramel is my weakness, you can see there are a lot of caramel in my blog, and in my bookshelf too, haha.

I love to play with sugar lately, it amazes me when I see the sugar turn from pure white granule into clear syrup, then amber with sweet intoxicated smell but don't take your eyes off it because you can face the burn sugar real soon. The sugar plays many roles in the baking and candy making, and each stage of it will make the finishing product behave differently too. 
I remember that the first time that I try to make the caramel candy, I ended up with something that looked like thick brown syrup, that couldn't hold its shape. 
But you know me, nothing can't stop me when I want to play, haha, so I make it again and again until I get the caramel toffee that I want. When making the toffee, the most important thing is the temperature of the sugar. You can make it harder by letting the temperature higher than 118°C (it depends on how you want your candy to be like, so play with it until you get the right temperature). 
Making caramel toffee is not hard but I think it's a bit dangerous if you don't prepare. Using a large heavy saucepan is a must, because when boiling there will be a lot of hot bubble and I really mean "HOT". So, clear your work space, and warn people around you (esp. little children), I know it sounds so alarm but I believe in safety first ^^.

For the salt, I love to use Maldon, (you can see a photo, here), the taste of this kind of salt is not sharp and there is a hint of sweetness. But if you can't find it just use any sea salt that you love (and can find it, haha).
I really enjoy the toffee, both its taste and the impression of my friends (the toffee was my gift when me and my friend held the Macaron lovers meeting last weeks), they enjoyed the toffee and amazed by the combination of taste. So, I wish that you will have a great time from this toffee too ^^.

Caramel toffee with maldon sea salt

Makes about 36 

(actually it depends on the pan and the size that you want to cut)

480g ............................... Granulated sugar
480ml ............................ Whipping cream
240g ............................... Corn syrup (or glucose syrup)
1 ...................................... Vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
90g ................................. Unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4tsp ............................ Fine sea salt
......................................... Maldon sea salt (to sprinkle over the top of the caramel)


Prepare the mold or pan that you will use, for a thick toffee, using 20x20cm cake pan with a removable bottom or candy ruler (thickness about 1.2cm), if you want your toffee to be thinner use larger pan or ruler.
Cake pan: Place a silicone baking paper in a pan, and brush the side of the pan with butter.
Candy ruler: Brush the ruler with butter and place the ruler over a silicone mat.   

Bring the sugar, cream, corn syrup, salt and vanilla bean seeds to boil in a heavy saucepan set over medium-high heat. Cook until the mixture reaches 245°F (118°C) on a candy thermometer.

Stir in the butter, and continue cooking (stirring constantly) until the mixture returns to 245°F (118°C) on a candy thermometer.

Carefully pour the mixture into prepared pan or candy ruler, leveling it with an oiled heat-resistant spatula, sprinkle the Maldon sea salt over the caramel.
Allow the caramel to cool and firm, then cut into desired size, warp each toffee with wax paper or cellophane.

Caramel toffee with Maldon sea salt:

 Deliciously salty sweet gifts!!