It’s spring. It is sooooo spring.
Today is the first day that I really feel it. It is bright, it is sunny, and people are walking around “in their shirtsleeves” (I wish people still used this phrase). Although I spent the morning accidentally locked into the apartment, I love that we have a sunny balcony. I love that my neighbors play string instruments on their sunny balcony. I love that every door was open, letting in the beautiful music, and the delightful spring air. I love spring.
I also like caramels! I’ve been wanting to make them for a while, but it was one of those sort-of-intimidating can-I-really-do-it projects. However, with my new resolution to tackle that exact sort of project, into caramel, I dove!
I didn’t have a candy thermometer, so I decided to try the “cold water” method (and by “decided” I mean, I’d already started boiling the caramel when I realized I didn’t have a candy thermometer). It ended up going really well, although the caramel is a bit softer than I was aiming for, I’m pretty proud of how it turned out. I used the basic caramel recipe here.
I put some roughly chopped cashews on top, but next time I think I’ll put MORE cashews on top! I put some in these cute little candy cups I bought a while ago, and covered them in dark chocolate
Some of them, I rolled into “logs” and set out to cover in chocolate, but I realized they looked too much like turds when I did that, so I decided to just drizzle them and wrap them in parchment paper, heh.
All-in-all it was a good experiment. I’ve been wanting to get some more experience making candies, because I think sometimes they make better gifts than baked goods do (and they’re easier to give).
Caramels and spring…how can I not be happy?
