Christmas Caramels

Last year I tried some caramels a friend had gotten for a Christmas present and I was amazed at how delicious they were. I vowed that next Christmas I would figure out how to make them and share the wealth. Since this was my first candy making experience, it took a couple tries – three to be exact. But the end product was well worth it. The final, successful batch was made using this recipe. I wrapped them in wax paper and embellished them with this Washi tape and put them in cute boxes I found at World Market finished off with some brown twine.

A couple tips for beginner candy makers:

• Be patient – it took a good half hour (if not longer) for the candy to come up to temperature. Keep the temp on medium.
• The tape doesn’t stick that well to the wax paper, so wrap it around a few times for it to stick to itself
• I found a good length for the wax paper was a 5 inch strip cut in half