Secret Recipe Club - Chocolate Matcha Caramels!

Oy vey, it's been too long. I'm sorry. Life kind of got in the way...there is a very short window for leaf crunching you know. I've been baking of course. But things that I didn't feel like photographing, or that didn't turn out. And then there was this post, which I've been meaning to write for over a week now, but I just never got around to it, and then I left my camera with all my pictures on it at school, so I had to re-photograph everything with my phone...I shouldn't be making excuses for myself though. Shame! 

Let's get down to business, shall we? My SRC assignment for this month was The Novice Housewife, who has an incredibly diverse and appealing collection of recipes. And is also a great photographer. This is one of the few assignments that I actually knew about outside the SRC. I've been eyeing up her delicious looking Indian recipes :) 

 

But....matcha. I can't resist. And making caramel (something I hadn't tried before) seemed like fun sugarcrafting practice! There is something magical about candy making....watching sugar transform into something completely different. Nom. To add even more caramel, I actually used some caramel flavored matcha! It's super delicious, drink it, seriously. I cannot recommend this brand enough. Now, the matcha adds a delightful kind of earthiness to the otherwise very sweet caramel. I found that it got stronger over several days. If it's not your thang, chocolate caramel is pretty awesome just by itself :) 

Chocolate Matcha Caramel 

from The Novice Housewife

Ingredients
Unsalted butter for the pan
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (99% dark preferable), finely chopped
1 tablespoon matcha powder Directions
1. Line a 9x9 pan with a piece of parchment paper (the paper will droop over the sides) and butter well.
2. Stir together the cream, sugar, corn syrup, and salt together in a heavy bottom pan. Bring to a boil and continue to cook until it reaches 250F. Remove from heat and let cool for a five minutes. (Be careful when waiting for it to reach 250 F because it might flow over. And since I had to put it on low it took a looooooong time. I would recommend using a really deep pan)
3. Add chocolate and the matcha. Stir together and pour into the pan and spread with an offset spatula. Let the caramel sit for a few hours.
4. Cut apart into 1-inch squares. Serve or store in an airtight container.