I've mentioned it several times, so here it is. The microwave caramel technique. 

I got it from America's Test Kitchen. I found The Feed*, which has a bunch of one-minute tips, for things like making caramel and stretching pizza dough. 

For those unfamiliar, America's Test Kitchen is ...

Back to the caramel. You'll need:

• 1 C sugar
• 2 TBL water
• 2 TBL corn syrup
• 1/8 tsp lemon juice 
  
  

Can we stop for a second and wonder why anyone writes a recipe that uses 1/8th of a tsp? I don't think anyone has a 1/8 tsp measuring spoon. Once I get the hang of this, I'll just double the recipe. Although I guess I could weigh 1/4 tsp of lemon juice on my scale, and then used the scale to determine half? That seems like too much work.

Combine everything in a bowl, and microwave 5 to 8 minutes, until it's a tan color.

The video says the range is because different microwaves have different strengths. I let mine go for five minutes, and then decided it wasn't tan enough, and let it go another minute. That, as you'll see, was a mistake.

Let it cool. 

Obviously, be careful removing the bowl from the microwave. It'll be REALLY hot, and melted sugar burns, and doesn't come off your skin easily. Here are some safety tips from the master, David Lebovitz: 

I took pictures at a couple different points:

And.. it's burnt. To the trash. Do you see the sacrifices I make for you people? Luckily, this is so easy, I can make it again. 

Before I do, a couple of lessons learned:

- Make this in a non-stick bowl, if possible. It's caramel, and so really sticky. 

- Have a plan for the caramel. Make it into a sauce, or toffee, or eat it with a spoon. But my original plan to pour the results into a bottle to keep in the fridge wouldn't have worked (it would get really thick, and stick to the bottle). Instead, I'll make a sauce (like this one, fromTracey's Culinary Adventures), and then pour that in a bottle. Unfortunately, I didn't find that link until after I burnt my first batch.

So the revised steps:

To the above ingredients, add 1/2 C heavy cream and 1 TBL butter, and maybe a pinch kosher salt. And the new instructions:
1. Mix everything except the cream, butter and salt.
2. Microwave 5-8 minutes // Cook until it's all liquid, and it's a tan color (it'll darken as it cools)
3. While that's cooking, heat the cream (it won't foam as much this way)
4. Let caramel cool on the counter for 5 minutes
5. Let the caramel cool/darken, until it's the right color. Then slowly add the warm cream, and then the butter. Mix well. 

I may have blanked out and set the microwave for only 4:30, but after several minutes, it clearly wasn't dark enough, so I nuked it for 3 30-second bursts. And after that? It was pretty dark (and yeah, I was worried I'd ruined another batch), but I stuck to the plan.

I added the warm milk (SLOWLY!), and it foamed up. I wanted to get a picture, but figured it was more important to stir it and not let it overflow onto the counter.

Keep adding a little at a time and stirring. Eventually the milk and caramel will be the same temp and it won't foam. Then add the butter and stir until it's absorbed. let it cool (hey! I said let it cool.. you'll burn your tongue).

And then I started the clock, to see it darken over time..

.. except it didn't really get much darker. So back to the microwave. That definitely helped. And to avoid letting it darken too much while it cooled, I added the warm milk and then the butter.

Apparently, I didn't think to take a last picture. I would say it came out...pretty good. It definitely wasn't as smooth as I might like, but now I've got the technique down, so I'll give it another shot. 

*Check out this homemade beer ice cream recipe from the feed.. definitely coming soon to a freezer near you.