Rustic Swiss Caramels with Pistacchios

Swiss Caramels are a classic Swiss sweet treat that are not unlike fudges in taste but crumblier and have more “melt in your mouth” texture – you usually get them at autumnfaires and they really are quite addictive.

In this version I added some salted pistacchios to the caramels – if you like the combination of salty and sweet, they are a guaranteed hit!

Ingredients (For ca. 100 pieces):

  • 2 packets of vanilla sugar
  • 500 g sugar
  • 5 dl heavy cream
  • 2 pinches of salt
  • 40 g of butter
  • ca. 70g of pistaccios (salted or unsalted, your choice)

Preparation:
Roughly chop the pistacchios and set aside.
Bring cream, vanilla sugar and sugar to the boil while stirring constantly. Be careful, the mixture will increase in volume while boiling. Reduce to medium heat and keep on stirring until the mixture browns and thickens (you can see how the mixture should look like in the end in this video – it’s also a nice treat if anyone wanted to know what Swiss German sounds like).

After it thickened and changed to a thicker texture, take the pan off the stove and mix in the butter. Add the pistacchios and stir into the mixture. When everything is combined immediately pour the mixture on a baking paper and spread it until an approx. 1 cm thick layer is formed.

Cut it in small cubes while still warm (but cool enough so that the knife doesn’t stick to the mixture) – for the rustic feeling I tried to break them in a way that would result in rough edges.

Tip: You can easily store them in a dry enviroment for up to 2 months, although I would suggest to eat them within the first 1-3 weeks after making them.

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