Caramels au Beurre Sale

I have got a little obsession with salted caramel so instead of just making caramel sauce (which i usually do) I decided to make actual chewy salted caramels, dipped in dark chocolate. However, my candy thermometer was broken so i had to use just my usual cheese thermometer which only goes up to 100 C, so I didn't boil my sugar for quite long enough for the caramels to set properly. So, I just rolled the caramel (straight out of the freezer) into balls them dipped into the chocolate and placed in to the fridge to set. 

Caramels au Beurre Sale 

adapted from Paris Sweet 

200 ml heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, bean paste, or powder

1 tsp teaspoon flaky sea salt, preferably fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling 

160g golden syrup 

200 g sugar

80g  butter, cubed, at room temperature

120g good quality 72% dark chocolate ( I used vahlrona ), melted

Line a 9-inch (23 cm) loaf pan with foil and spray the inside with cooking spray.

Heat the cream with half of the butter in a small saucepan with the vanilla and sea salt until the mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat, cover, and keep warm while you cook the syrup.

In a medium, heavy duty saucepan heat the golden syrup with the sugar, and cook, stirring gently, to make sure the sugar melts smoothly. Once the mixture is melted together and the sugar is evenly moistened, only stir is as necessary to keep it from getting any hot spots.

Cook until the syrup reaches 310ºF (155ºC).

To get an accurate reading while the syrup is cooking, tilt the saucepan to make sure the bulb of the thermometer is fully submerged in the syrup, tilting the pan if necessary.

Turn off the heat and stir in the warm cream mixture, until smooth.

Turn the heat back on and cook the mixture to 260F (127C).

Remove the pan from the heat, lift out the thermometer, and stir in the cubes of butter, until it’s melted and the mixture smooth.

Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and wait ten minutes, then sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of the sea salt over the top. Set on a cool rack and let cool completely. Once cool, lift out the foil with the caramel, peel away the foil, and slice the bar of caramel with a long, sharp knife into squares or rectangles.

Dip each square into the melted dark chocolate and place on a sheet lined with baking paper. PLace in the fridge to set the chocolate. Once the chocolate it set, you can sprinkle over a little flakey sea salt to finish.