Caramel Chocolate Pecan Cubes

This is a recipe for lazy, cheating bakers.

Any time you rely on store-bought caramels- the individual ones you unwrap one by one and try to not eat every third one whilst doing the unwrapping- you’re a lazy cheat. Yeah well, there’s a time and a place for that kind of corner cutting in every dessert-maven’s kitchen. Sometimes it’s so right to just give in. And even though I still feel guilty for not making the caramel myself (oh, that dreaded candy thermometer can’t get to the soft ball stage fast enough), I’ve accepted that I won’t end up in pastry hell for cheating.

(An irrational side note on being a lazy cheat: I can’t bring myself to ever use a pre-baked pie crust. Sure, I’ll make the thoroughly synthetic Pillsbury crescent rolls at family holiday meals- just because they are a family tradition and also because they are so freaking good- but bring myself to use a frozen crust? I just can’t do it. Like I said, it’s irrational. I’m irrational.)

CHOCOLATE LAYERS:

2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup pecans, lightly toasted and chopped

CARAMEL LAYER:

20 unwrapped caramel candies

2 tablespoons heavy cream (or light cream/milk)
1. Line an 8 x 8″ square pan with tin foil or wax paper and set aside.
2. In a heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips with 1 cup sweetened condensed milk over low heat. Add vanilla and toasted pecans.
3. Spread half of the mixture evenly into prepared pan; chill 15 minutes until firm. (Keep remaining chocolate mixture at room temperature.)
4. In a medium bowl, melt caramels and cream in 20-second increments in microwave, stirring between each increment until melted and smooth. Spread caramel over chilled chocolate layer; chill 15 minutes longer until firm.
5. Spread remaining chocolate mixture on top of chilled caramel layer. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until firm. Peel tin foil off and cut into cubes, and store covered in fridge.
Tips:
- Premium chocolate? It’s so worth it! Do it! And if you don’t feel like the intensity of bittersweet, use semi-sweet. Or milk chocolate. Whatever.
- Even lazier? Melt the chocolate and sweetened condensed milk in the microwave for a minute, stir, and pop in for 30 second increments. This recipe is supposed to be for lazy sloths, so go for it. Just make sure you don’t scald your premium chocolate. Expensive mistake.
- Nuts… are optional, or can be switched. How about slivered almonds?
- Chill before cutting. I failed to let the layers firm up enough and ended up with smooshy cubes… you might want to freeze the pan to speed up the process if you’re in a rush to inhale these.
- Enjoy the extra time gained by using store-bought caramels. Just think you could troll this site and look up yummy things like the Almighty Almond Cake.
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November 3rd, 2012 | More Sweets Please | 2 Comments | Tags: Candies

2 Responses and Counting...

Helen Morgan 11.03.2012

Thank you for the fabulous alternative to pumpkin! You read my mind…
More Sweets Please

Yay- I love it when my mind-reading is successful. Sometimes it goes horribly wrong :). Happy autumn, HM!