I keep hearing all the talk about whey caramel in my cheesemaking posse. When I went online this morning, I couldn't find a single recipe for a chewy candy version of this when using Google. Let me help you out by sharing this wonderful, soft chewy caramel that won't rip the teeth out of your mouth. You don't even need corn syrup! I recommend going ahead with mixing in ground cinnamon and dipping these beauties in some chocolate!
In my cheesemaking groups, I keep hearing about whey caramel. The recipes I've seen are all for a liquid type caramel. I decided I would form my own chewy whey caramel recipe. So far it works! These are both tangy and sweet. I'm using goat whey which I think may make these even more tangy.
Chewy Whey Caramels
2 C Whey (from cheesemaking)
14 Tbsp Butter
2 C Sugar
1/2 C Water
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Vanilla
Cinnamon for swirling (optional)
Line an 8x8" or 9x9" pan with parchment or wax paper. Spray generously with cooking spray or grease with butter.
Reduce whey by half while boiling in a heavy bottomed pan on medium high heat. Stir constantly. Add Butter in and melt. Once melted and mixed through, turn off heat and mix in salt and vanilla. Set aside.
Prepare a cup with water and a pastry brush to set nearby.
In a big pot, stir water and sugar together. Heat on medium high heat, mixing constantly to dissolve sugar before boiling. When you get to a boil, do not mix. Use wetted brush on sides of pan to get rid of crystallization. Keep boiling sugar until it reaches 350 F degrees and turns an amber brown. Take off heat and carefully add in whey mixture while stirring constantly. It will bubble up and sizzle which is ok.
Return pot to medium heat and stir. Bring mix to 250 F degrees. There will be lots of bubbling here so having this in a pot rather than your biggest saucepan is essential!
Pour caramel into pan immediately. Working fast, add some big pinches of cinnamon powder if you choose to do this option. Swirl cinnamon with toothpick. Let caramel set 3 hours up to overnight before cutting.
At this point you can form and wrap candies in wax paper or enjoy them. To make a special treat, you can melt some chocolate and dip these in using a fork. Use another fork to get candies to sit on top of parchment or wax paper. Allow chocolate to harden at room temp.
