Salted Honey Caramels
1 cup honey
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1⁄2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Kosher or flaky salt to finish
Line a standard loaf pan (about 9-by-5-inch) with parchment paper (sides and bottom).
Cut 40 parchment wrappers about 3 1⁄2 by 2 inches.
In a saucepan over low heat, bring cream and fine salt to a simmer but do not allow mixture to boil. Stir in honey. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly with a wooden or silicone utensil for about 20 to 25 minutes, until caramel reaches 260 degrees Fahrenheit (hard ball stage).
Immediately remove from heat, add vanilla and stir.
Pour into prepared loaf pan. When caramel is nearly cool to the touch, sprinkle with kosher or flaky finishing salt.
Once caramel is completely cool, transfer slab on parchment to a cutting board. With a lightly oiled, sharp knife, cut slab lengthwise into 10 even strips and crosswise into 4 even strips for 40 individual rectangular pieces. Wrap each piece in parchment and twist ends to seal.
But it’s so popular because it works, and can be customized with ease.
The master recipe is equal parts beeswax, oil and butter – but we’re not talking the dairy variety. Nutand fruit-based butters that are solid at room temperature, such as cocoa butter or shea, are common choices to give the product creaminess. The oil is often almond or olive, though any high-quality oil that is liquid at room temperature will work.
“It gives you slip, or glide,” says Gaudynski, while the beeswax “seals in moisture and stiffens the recipe.”
After you’ve tried a small batch, you can start to play with scent, adding essential oils or steeping dried herbs or teas in the oil before adding. You can also experiment with texture, changing proportions to suit your personal preference.
Whether you have your own bees or purchase honey and beeswax from your local beekeeper, working with the ingredients gives you a new appreciation for the productive insects’ labor during these short but sweet months of warm weather.
Says Windborne Farms’ Dolan: “One of my favorite things about (making products) is the smell of beeswax, an intoxicating mixture of summer and happiness.” The road to skin-soothing, cracked lip-healing delight starts with this master formula. The product you make can be poured into glass containers, lip balm tubes (look for lip balm-making starter sets online for about $10) or screw-top tins. You can also use lined cupcake tins, or silicone baking or soap-making molds.
Tip: start out with small batches to see how you like the feel of the product and tweak the proportions to your liking. That goes for when you start adding essential oils for scent as well.
If making lip balm, be sure all ingredients, including essential oils, are food-grade.