Be sure to scroll down after reading this to enter my SCRAP GIVE-AWAY!!
Just in time for Halloween - these make the PERFECT treat... but don't waste them on the rugrats that ring doorbells...save them for only the most discriminating Ghosts and Ghouls.
My first licorice caramel ever was purchased at a gas station in Layton, Utah...I went inside to pay for gas and on the counter was a bowl with hand-wrapped candy and a sign that said, "Homemade Licorice Caramels $2.50 each." Yes, highway robbery! I remember thinking someone must be very proud of themselves! Diabetes Satan appeared and told me to buy a handful...but I resisted and only bought one, put it in my pocket and quickly forgot about it - until two days later when it was discovered, quickly unwrapped and popped in my mouth. Eating it was like a minute-ride on the Prozac Express...60 seconds of sugary Heaven, no worries, no cares...so, so good...chewy, with the flavor of licorice/anise but not so over-powering that it blocked out the caramel taste...and now I know why whoever made them felt she could charge 2.50 a piece...it was worth it.
Unable to find the gas station again I was left with trying to recreate them at home...and after three different attempts, I finally succeeded...the picture makes them look like they're brown/chocolate...but they are black, thanks to black food coloring - so perfect for Halloween. One 9x13-inch pan will make about 100 pieces of candy, so you'll have plenty to share with your caramel-worthy friends.
Licorice Caramels - Pots and Pins
1 cup karo syrup
2 cups brown sugar
2 sticks butter (do not use margarine)
1 can (14.5 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons Anise extract
3 to 4 drops black food coloring
Butter a 9x13-inch glass baking pan and set aside. In a heavy-bottomed pan or Dutch oven, combine sugar, karo syrup and butter over medium heat until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly. Add sweetened condensed milk slowly, stirring until well blended with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat to medium-low and bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly until mixture is past the soft-ball stage and will hold it's shape when a drop of caramel is put into cold water and then removed. If using a candy thermometer heat until 242 degrees. Remove from heat and stir in extracts and black food coloring. Pour into buttered pan. Let cool completely and then cut into pieces, 1/2-inch wide by 1 1/2-inches long, wrap in waxed paper, twisting the ends to secure. Makes about 100 pieces.
My sister made me these darling candy bags - they are now filled with delicious licorice-caramels and are waiting to be delivered on All Hallows Eve...yes, I will be out, donned in my witch's costume, ding-dong-ditching (but I leave treats instead of taking them!) again this year...be afraid...be very afraid!
