Applesauce Brandy Caramels

Base Recipe

Fleur de Sel Caramels

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon fleur de sel (plus more for sprinkling on top)
• 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup water

Applesauce Brandy Mixture to Flavor the Cream Mixture

• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used Trade Joe's "First Crush Unsweetened Gravenstein Apple Sauce"
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Vanilla extract
• 3 to 4 tablespoons brandy
• Toasted pecans (to be sprinkled on top)

To Make the Applesauce Brandy-Flavored Cream

1. Boil the applesauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, and brandy together for several minutes. 
2. Cool mixture.
3. Combine the heavy cream, unsalted butter, and fleur de sel in another pot.
4. Stir the cream mixture until the butter is melted then add the applesauce mixture to the cream. 
5. Let the applesauce mixture steep in the cream for half an hour. (If this mixture becomes too thick as it cools, warm it up until it is liquid again and can easily be poured into the sugar syrup mixture for the caramels.) 

To Make the Caramels

Line an 8" x 8" square pan with lightly greased parchment paper.

1. In a three to four-quart pot boil together the sugar, corn syrup, and water. 
2. Stir this mixture until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Continue boiling mixture, but do not stir it. Instead gently tilt the pot in a circular motion to swirl the sugar mixture around. 
4. When the sugar turns a golden caramel color carefully pour the cream mixture into the same pot while stirring constantly. This mixture will bubble and foam up greatly in the pot. 
5. Turn down the heat if necessary and stir the caramel occasionally until it reaches 240 degrees Fahrenheit. 
6. Stir caramel frequently until it reaches 248 degrees Fahrenheit. 
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. DO NOT scrape the sides of the pan and try to add all the caramel in the pot to the prepared pan. 
8. After one minute sprinkle the toasted pecans on top of the caramel. Sprinkle a few pinches of fleur de sel on top as well. 
9. Cool caramel at room temperature until it is firm. 
10. Cut caramels into squares and wrap them in wax paper. 

Recipe yields approximately 1 lb. and 6oz of caramels (wrapped)

Notes

I tried to come up with this recipe for applesauce brandy caramels when I was thinking of new caramel flavors. Unfortunately when I tried to find recipes for "applesauce caramel" on Google I only got results for "caramelized applesauce" or "caramel appleauce". I had tried making (Smitten Kitchen's Apple Cider Caramels)[https://smittenkitchen.com/2012/10/apple-cider-caramels-the-book-is-here/] a long time ago, but I wanted a caramel that tasted more like apples. I had to rule out using apple cider as an ingredient in my caramels because it was not in season at the time. I also wan't looking forward to standing around and waiting for a large quantity of liquid to reduce to a usable syrup. I felt that apple juice would not have enough flavor so I decided to give applesauce a shot.

I was concerned that the applesauce would be too acidic to add straight to the heavy cream and I didn't want the mixture to curdle. I thought that boiling the applesauce mixture would help. I also wanted to remove some of the excess liquid in the applesauce by boiling it off. The cream didn't curdle when I added the applesauce to it but the resulting mixture thickened so much that it almost had the consistency of sour cream! This was remedied by warming up the mixture until it became fluid again. 

I used a very small amount of spices as I wanted the apple flavor to be the strongest. I tried to make the apple flavor more pronounced by adding a little cinnamon and even less nutmeg. I am not sure what part the brandy played in flavoring the caramels because I couldn't taste any trace of it in the candy.

Be hella careful when you add the cream mixture to the sugar syrup mixture. This rule applies to all caramel recipes, but I was not prepared for what happened when I made these caramels. The applesauce must have reacted some way with the hot sugar because it splattered a bit and I ended up with a few flecks of caramel-coated, burning-hot apple pulp stuck to my left eyelid and crying out in pain as I frantically tried to continue stirring the rest of the cream mixture into the sugar syrup. I was prepared to make caramels by wearing sleeves that covered my arms, but the next time I tackle this recipe I will grab my goggles from my high school chemistry class. I keep them in the pantry just a few feet away from the stove and I really should have used them just to be safe. 

Please, please, please toast the pecans and cool them before sprinkling them on top of the caramel! Toasted pecans will taste so much better than raw pecans on your caramels. You are already working so hard to make caramels from scratch. Why not spend a few minutes toasting some nuts, too?

Things to Improve

When some of my friends and family tried these they told me that they could taste the apple flavor. I don't think anyone noticed that there was brandy in them as well unless I told them that they were eating applesauce brandy caramels. However one of my co-workers (who did not hear me announce the flavor name) could not tell that the caramel contained any apple at all! I need to find a way to make the apple flavor more pronounced. I am not sure if increasing the amount of applesauce would be the right answer without altering the texture of the resulting caramels.

I think I could safely try adding more brandy since most of it will probably boil off once it is mixed with the sugar syrup. 

Although the applesauce brandy flavor was not as strong as I was hoping for, I learned that the bottom line for this recipe may be that people tend to like when nuts and caramel are combined. This flavor was definitely a winner with my friends (and with me!) but I think a few more experiments with it will be required.