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2011 Cooking Club Week 39: Caramel Squares

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Comments

  • #92
    CookieMonster.x
    Registered Users Posts: 1,049 ✭✭✭CookieMonster.x


    What chocolate should you use? Don't like very rich/heavy/overly chocolately things. What about wonderbar?


  • #93
    Susie_Q
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Susie_Q


    Wonderbar isn't chocolate - it's chocolate flavoured. Get some plain tesco chocolate or something, it will be fine, but please - no Wonderbar!


  • #94
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,654 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    Susie is right. Never use poor quality chocolate! My budget is always low, so I tend to use Tesco Finest chocolate as a compromise. I doubt you'll like these though, if you don't like rich heavy things! :)


  • #95
    CookieMonster.x
    Registered Users Posts: 1,049 ✭✭✭CookieMonster.x


    Susie_Q wrote: »
    Wonderbar isn't chocolate - it's chocolate flavoured. Get some plain tesco chocolate or something, it will be fine, but please - no Wonderbar!
    That's what I thought but I find plain chocolate (with the % cocoa written on it) very rich - I don't really like it. I thought it would be too rich for my liking. Do you mean the 80% cocoa? I used it for biscuit cake and I found I could only take a small bit as it was just so rich.


  • #96
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,654 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    I'd use a milk chocolate so. Chocolate can have almost any cocoa content. Milk chocolate tends to be 30 - 50% cocoa, dark chocolate is 50% or more. The higher the cocoa content, the darker, richer and more bitter the chocolate. Look for something like Tesco Finest Milk Chocolate, or Lindt 35% Milk Chocolate.


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  • #97
    CookieMonster.x
    Registered Users Posts: 1,049 ✭✭✭CookieMonster.x


    Faith wrote: »
    I'd use a milk chocolate so. Chocolate can have almost any cocoa content. Milk chocolate tends to be 30 - 50% cocoa, dark chocolate is 50% or more. The higher the cocoa content, the darker, richer and more bitter the chocolate. Look for something like Tesco Finest Milk Chocolate, or Lindt 35% Milk Chocolate.
    I'll try that, thanks for the help!


  • #98
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,057 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    These have now been made in Moldova and Russia after some guests begged me for the recipe to take home :D


  • #99
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,654 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    pickarooney wrote: »
    These have now been made in Moldova and Russia after some guests begged me for the recipe to take home :D

    Amazing! :D


  • #100
    Susie_Q
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Susie_Q


    CookieMonster.x wrote: »
    That's what I thought but I find plain chocolate (with the % cocoa written on it) very rich - I don't really like it. I thought it would be too rich for my liking. Do you mean the 80% cocoa? I used it for biscuit cake and I found I could only take a small bit as it was just so rich.

    In fairness, if you don't like chocolate then maybe this recipe isn't for you!


  • #101
    revz
    Registered Users Posts: 478 ✭✭revz


    I've never posted in this forum even though I've been using it for the past half a year!
    I'm a student who could barely butter their own toast 6 months ago; now have a few recipes under my belt and this is one of my favourites :)
    This is my second time making it, thought I might try and make it look a bit fancy by pouring some melted white chocolate over the top while the milk chocolate was still soft, and trying to decorate it a bit by ermmm....flicking? the white chocolate with a tooth-pick :cool:
    Might have gone a bit overboard with the amount used but I'm looking forward to it setting!
    If I can get a pic before myself & the rest of the family devour it I'll try and post it up, but for now:

    AqtkMt_CMAAOAOJ.jpg

    AqtkXUwCQAAzq71.jpg

    Many thanks for the recipe! :D


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  • #102
    Medicine333
    Closed Accounts Posts: 387 ✭✭Medicine333


    Nyom nyom nyom delicioso!! Thank you Faith, you've restored my faith(:o) in caramel squares after the disaster I made last time with a different recipe!

    They were scrumptious, and even though I found it difficult to stop the caramel burning, it was perfect and tasted yummy!:)


  • #103
    Gauge
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,818 ✭✭✭Gauge


    Nom!

    sW7B0.jpg

    This is actually the second time I've made them, I made sure to take a picture BEFORE they got eaten this time :D they got rave reviews both times, my colleagues had them devoured within an hour.

    I used Lidl chocolate for the top- cheap and cheerful but it works very well. What I like about this recipe is 90% of the ingredients are likely to be hanging around the kitchen so you don't need to spend a load on ingredients if the mood strikes!


  • #104
    MissFlitworth
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,057 ✭✭✭MissFlitworth


    These are cooling in the fridge waiting to be chocolate-d :) I am sitting on the couch 'cleaning' the caramel pot with a silicone spatula. oink oink.

    Well these were eaten before photos could be taken. They were mega. I used a pan that's too big so the chocolate wasn't as thick as I would have liked & I overcooked the base slightly because my oven is a pig but they were still unreal & both of those things will be adjusted for Batch #2. Artists impression of a caramel square below.


    square.jpg


  • #105
    confusticated
    Registered Users Posts: 1,680 ✭✭✭confusticated


    Made these the other day, could've done with a bit more chocolate but that's my own fault. They were gorgeous, thanks Faith!

    Spuo2.jpg?1


  • #106
    Intothesea
    Registered Users Posts: 540 ✭✭✭Intothesea


    Thanks for an excellent recipe, Faith. Nyomoreish illicit heaven :)

    I topped these with semisweet choc to balance the caramel a bit (or that was the idea anyway). Soon to be made again I suspect. :pac:

    MilShortbread.jpg


  • #107
    nozzferrahhtoo
    Registered Users Posts: 9,336 ✭✭✭nozzferrahhtoo


    I just made these last night, left them in the fridge over night.

    The first question I would have is how much milk is in the standard "1 Tin" in Ireland. Here in Germany I could only find unsweetened cartons at 7.5% Fat content and they were 340g.

    German "Golden Syrup" is not quite what I am used to from Ireland but is very similar so it was fine.

    The caramel following the recipe in the OP was too liquid when I was done. But not by much. A few websites I checked while trying not to stop stirring suggested the best ways to thicken is to cook longer and add more sugar, but slowly. So I did both. Stirring at a leisurely but constant pace, often reversing direction to help mixing. Adding in a little sugar at a time, maybe 5g, to a total of 20 more than the recipe wanted. In the end my mixture was quite dark.

    It set great, and I put Lidl 65% on top. I think one thing to notice is that it sets in the fridge a LOT more than you expect it to so many of you might be thinking its still too liquid in the pot and have doubts. Give it a try all the same and you might be surprised.

    I was stuck with a circle tin too. The choc did crumble as I cut it... in the Tin as the Op suggestion, but not too bad. Next time I might not let the choc totally set before cutting.

    http://tinypic.com/r/2r5e03q/6
    http://tinypic.com/r/1zq36er/6
    http://tinypic.com/r/vcytrk/6
    http://tinypic.com/r/demhar/6
    http://tinypic.com/r/a0j7k4/6

    Made the pictures a bit big so just links rather than IMG tags.


  • #108
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,057 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    Strangely these look even nicer round!


  • #109
    nozzferrahhtoo
    Registered Users Posts: 9,336 ✭✭✭nozzferrahhtoo


    Perhaps it is like sandwiches. Everyone knows sandwiches taste better, and you can eat more of them, if they are cut in triangles.


  • #110
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,654 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    nozzferrahhtoo wrote: »
    The first question I would have is how much milk is in the standard "1 Tin" in Ireland. Here in Germany I could only find unsweetened cartons at 7.5% Fat content and they were 340g.

    They're about 400g here. Unsweetened condensed milk (aka evaporated milk) is actually not suitable at all, because it's the sugars you need for the caramel. Adding the extra sugar probably helped, but condensed milk contains 40 - 45% percent sugar, which evaporated milk doesn't have. Condensed milk is also much thicker than evaporated milk, which is why your mixture was much more liquid.


  • #111
    nozzferrahhtoo
    Registered Users Posts: 9,336 ✭✭✭nozzferrahhtoo


    That would explain a lot then. Still it turned out quite near perfect, by my own standards at least.


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  • #112
    imbroglio
    Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭imbroglio


    I saw this read months ago and always meant to make these caramel squares...well today was that day! I haven't cooked anything since home ec about 10 years ago. The smell of the base coming out of the oven took me fit back to the prefab where the school ovens were!

    I too only had a round dish, hopefully they'll be OK. They're in the fridge setting now, very excited to present them to my housemates.

    Slight panic when I was stirring the caramel and realised I forgot the golden syrup. Cue me trying to open that awkward fecking tin and KEEP STIRRING!! It all worked out fine though, but it remains to be seen why they'll taste like. Will report back with pics!


  • #113
    confusticated
    Registered Users Posts: 1,680 ✭✭✭confusticated


    imbroglio wrote: »
    I saw this read months ago and always meant to make these caramel squares...well today was that day! I haven't cooked anything since home ec about 10 years ago. The smell of the base coming out of the oven took me fit back to the prefab where the school ovens were!

    I too only had a round dish, hopefully they'll be OK. They're in the fridge setting now, very excited to present them to my housemates.

    Slight panic when I was stirring the caramel and realised I forgot the golden syrup. Cue me trying to open that awkward fecking tin and KEEP STIRRING!! It all worked out fine though, but it remains to be seen why they'll taste like. Will report back with pics!

    You can get golden syrup in squeezy bottles now. Godsend. Might be handy to know for next time! (There will be a next time, I don't think it's possible to only make these once.)


  • #114
    Sar_Bear
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,555 ✭✭✭Sar_Bear


    I made these for the first time for a big family party. There was about 7 desserts but these were the only ones that were finished, people were even hiding them around the kitchen to eat later!! So gorgeous and easy to make, the recipe went back to Chicago with some friends of mine.

    Thanks OP :)


  • #115
    Dizzyblonde
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Politics Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 12,108 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dizzyblonde


    Himself made these this afternoon (under supervision), and omg they're delicious!

    [URL="[IMG]http://i39.tinypic.com/jkal4j.jpg[/IMG]"]jkal4j.jpg[/URL]


  • #116
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,654 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    Those look perfect, Dizzy! Well done to Mr. Dizzy :D


  • #117
    ibarelycare
    Registered Users Posts: 58,456 ✭✭✭✭ibarelycare


    This is probably a really stupid question but how do you cream butter and sugar? :o I'm a very novice baker! I don't have a food processor, I have a mini blender with a blade, and a hand blender. Will I be able to use either of those?


  • #118
    Chattastrophe!
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,284 ✭✭✭Chattastrophe!


    ibarelycare wrote: »
    This is probably a really stupid question but how do you cream butter and sugar? :o I'm a very novice baker! I don't have a food processor, I have a mini blender with a blade, and a hand blender. Will I be able to use either of those?

    I've always done it using a good old-fashioned wooden spoon!

    It's a lot easier (obviously) when the butter is left to get to room temperature.


  • #119
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,654 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    ibarelycare wrote: »
    This is probably a really stupid question but how do you cream butter and sugar? :o I'm a very novice baker! I don't have a food processor, I have a mini blender with a blade, and a hand blender. Will I be able to use either of those?

    The blade is definitely not suitable, and the hand blender isn't really either so you're best off using a wooden spoon and elbow grease! Allow the butter to soften as much as you can without it melting (don't use the microwave!), then put it in a bowl with the sugar and vigorously combine them. It'll look a bit like this when it's done:

    butter-and-sugar-creamed.jpg


  • #120
    ibarelycare
    Registered Users Posts: 58,456 ✭✭✭✭ibarelycare


    Thanks, I actually ended up using the hand blender, and then a fork! The finished product is nearly ready to be cut so I'll let you know if it worked out ok :)


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  • #121
    ibarelycare
    Registered Users Posts: 58,456 ✭✭✭✭ibarelycare


    Wow they're unreal! Thanks faith! Shortbread is a little dense but I knew it was going to be like that, for some reason I couldn't get the breadcrumb consistency, it was a bit stodgy and adding more flour didn't help. The chocolate all cracked when I cut it (used Galaxy chocolate, mmmm!) but they taste good, they're very rich and sweet. So much caramel, even though I was shoving it into me before adding it to the biscuit :D


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