I'm having some kind of caramel madness, after seeing alton brown bravely pour cold cream into hot sugar. Here's two good looking recipes I will follow-- I'll report back on the effects of either or both.

Chez Pim's Quince caramels, Caramels aux coings
(make about 50 caramels)

2 pounds, or about a kilo of quinces (When buying quinces, pick the most fragrant fruits)
1.5 cups of water (3.5dl)
3 cups of sugar (600g)
a candy or deep-fry thermometer*
4oz of salted butter (120g), at room temperature

In a medium pot set over medium high heat, add the sugar and water and let cook until the sugar crystals are completely melted. Remove from heat. The reason I do this first is because I like to drop the pieces of fruits as I clean them into the pot of simple syrup immediately. This prevents the quinces from oxidation and turning an ugly shade of brown.

Peel, core, and cut the quinces into quarters. You might need to cut them into smaller pieces, depending on the size of the quinces you're working with, just use your judgement. Drop the fruits into the pot of syrup as you go along.

When you are done with the fruits, set the pot back on the stove. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer, and let cook until the quince slices are soft and cooked through. You should see a uniformed pink-red tone in the fruits. If you're not sure, insert the tip of a pairing knife into one, the knife should pierce through the fruit without any effort.

Remove the pot from heat and let cool on the countertop. I left mine for quite a few hours, to let the fruit macerate and impart as much fragrant and flavor into the syrup.

Quincetocaramel

When you are ready to make your caramels, use a slotted spoon to fish out the poached quinces** from the syrup. Strain the syrup into a deep pot. I used a my deep pasta pot for this. (As you cook the syrup down into caramel it will bubble up and spatter. Using a large pot will prevent the flying bits of molten caramel from landing on your pretty self.)

Set the pot with the syrup back on the stove, on high heat. Stick your candy thermometer into the pot. Cook the caramel over high heat until it reaches 240-250F (115-120C). Turn the heat off, then stir in the butter, a small knob at a time, until all the butter is incorporated into the caramel. Turn the heat back on, continue to cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the thermometer register 260F or 125C, the hard ball stage. Remove from heat immediately and set the pot aside to cool for a few minutes.

When the content of the pot stops bubbling and seems a bit safer to approach, pour it onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (not waxed paper, just regular parchment.) In the photo I use a Japanese mold lined on all sides with parchment. Let stand until cool enough to handle. If you want to cut the caramels into squares and wrap them that way, you can wait until the caramel is completely cooled. I like to roll and wrap mine into cute little packets with twisted ends, so I have to do that before the caramel is completely cold or it won't roll.

Caramelsquares

I use unbleached waxed paper to wrap the caramels. I love the understated brown color of the paper. It's also semi transparent, so the dark caramel inside can peek through.

David saw me laboring with a knife to cut the caramels with sheer force, so he offered a helpful advice before I tried to slice of my other index finger. So, according to him, one should cut the caramel with a hot, wet knife, using a gentle sawing motion. If you try to use force, the caramel will fight back becoming gooey, sticky, and impossible to work with. (Try it and you'll know what I mean.) I put a tall glass of water next to my pan of caramel, stick a knife in it, and use the knife to cut the caramel into one long strip at a time, then cut small squares from the strip and wrap them before cutting another long strip from the pan.

Roll the caramel into a tiny tube with the waxed paper cut into rectangles. The ones I use are about 4x3 inch in dimension.

I'd like to suggest that you make a large quantity of these to give away to friends, but I must warn you that you will need a very, very strong will to give them away.

---------
*The only unusual equipment you'll need is a candy (or deep-frying) thermometer. It's very important to cook the caramel to a precise temperature, otherwise you'll end up with caramel sauce and not caramel candies, not that a quince caramel sauce would be such a bad thing to have. You don't have one? No worries, you can just buy a simple analog model for just a few dollars. Wait a minute, don't you have one of those probe thermometer? The kind that you stick a probe inside a chicken or a piece of roast, and the other end plugs into a little digital thermometer? That one should work as well. If you really want to go fancy, you can try these two I have, a digital candy thermometer, or an infrared thermomether - a point and shoot thermometer that'll read the temperature of anything, including the back of your kitten's head.

**Keep the sweet poached quince slices in a jar in your fridge, they make a great topping for yogurt, or use them in a crumble or fruit tart. I think I might even try to make a quince "tarte tatin" with them.

101 Cookbook's Espresso Caramels Recipe

Feel free to experiment with the type of nuts you use. I found that nuts that were chopped were easier to deal with when forming the shape of the caramels, big intact walnut halves contributed to caramels with strange shapes. When choosing honey, I went for a mild clover honey.

And as I mentioned in the post, feel free to forgo the nuts altogether. You can make individually wrapped caramels. If you do decide to roll-your-own caramels, do it assembly style. Make one "prototype" that you are happy with, it might take a few practice ones. Based on the prototype cut all the parchment paper wrappers first, next the caramel into the appropriate size squares, then roll and twist.

2 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon espresso powder / finely ground espresso beans
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup honey

Special equipment: candy thermometer

Place the nuts in a medium sized, glass or ceramic mixing bowl.

In a medium, thick-bottomed saucepan heat the cream, espresso powder, and salt until tiny bubbles start forming where the milk touches the pan - just before a simmer. Stir in the honey. Bring the mixture to a boil. Now reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 15-20 minutes minutes or until the mixture reaches 260F degrees - hard ball stage. Remove from heat.

Pour the caramel over the nuts and stir until all the nuts are well coated. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 10 or 15 minutes to allow the caramel to thicken before you attempt to shape it. It is easier to handle this way - not as much spread. Stir one last time and drop by tablespoonful onto a prepared baking sheet (Silpat, parchment-lined, or oiled). Alternately, skip the nut addition and simply spread the (cooled but not set) caramel out on a slab or parchment-lined pan, let it cool completely before cutting into small pieces. Wrap & twist in parchment paper.

In either case keep the caramels in a cool place (or refrigerate) until completely set.

Makes 1 1/2 dozen nut caramels, or a couple dozen individual caramels (depending on the size).