Lee and I made the caramel together for our date night when the kiddos were fast asleep. It was so fun. We were both in a bit of a crabby impatient mood and couldn’t stop laughing about all the QVC contraptions we could come up with that would make caramel easier and faster. But the next morning when we tried the homemade caramel, we immediately began planning when we would have time to make more since the church ladies would get most of our first batch!
Anyway, below is the caramel recipe from my mom’s dear friend, Lana Haslam’s recipe box. Give it a whirl for your date night! You can make candy apples, dipped pretzels, chocolate turtles, or just eat it plain. I recommend all of the above.
8 cups of sugar
2 cans of evaporated milk
2 cans of sweetened condensed milk
2 cups of butter
2 tsp. of Vanilla
4 cups of light corn syrup
Instructions: Melt butter. In a heavy saucepan combine sugar, syrup, and butter over medium heat. While on the medium heat bring mixture to a rolling boil. Slowly pour milk in as you stir. Try and keep the mixture boiling. (if boil dies down it’s okay, but keep going slow).Cook to a firm ball stage or 238 degrees. Once at firm ball stage, take off heat and add vanilla. Stir constantly. Let it cool just a bit and then test an apple.
Caramel Recipe