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If there is one candy I could eat for the rest of my life, it would be caramels. When I was young, the little plastic wrapped caramels were the cheapest candy in the corner store. I would save up and get the biggest bang for my buck by buying a crap top of caramels! Ever since then they have always been my favorite.
Recently I came across jaggery powder at the Indian grocery store. Jaggery is also known as palm sugar. It’s a renewable source of sugar. Sugar cane has to be cut down and replanted, however; jaggery is harvested from the palm tree and the tree will continue making jaggery (no replanting necessary!). 
I initially was nervous using jaggery in the caramel because I thought it would crystallize the sugar and make a mess. Luckily it melted down and worked perfectly! Don’t skip the salt on this caramel. Jaggery is quite sweet and has a molasses-like flavor which the salt cuts really nicely.
The caramel is super soft and literally just melted in your mouth. When you cut the caramels, make sure you use a super sharp knife and do it all at once. The caramel will start to flatten and spread over time, so work quickly!
Also, if you can’t find powdered jaggery, you can just shred a block of jaggery. If you’re a fan of soft gooey caramels, definitely try the recipe!
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Salted Masala Chai Jaggery Caramels
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 64 caramels (depending on the size you cut the caramels) 1x
Ingredients
Instructions
- Brush or spray an 8×8 inch pan with vegetable oil. Line with parchment paper (leaving a lip to lift the caramel out) and brush with oil again. Set aside
- Add heavy cream to a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add tea, ground cloves, nutmeg, ground ginger, cinnamon, and ground cardamom. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring continuously. Heat the milk for 10 minutes. The edges of the milk should start forming bubbles, do not let it boil. The tea should steep into the milk turning it a lovely tan color.
- Strain the heavy cream into a large saucepan (the caramel bubbles up a lot!). Add unsalted butter, corn syrup, granulated sugar and jaggery. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- Bring the caramel to 250°F. This took me 20 minutes. Take the caramel off the heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt. Pour the caramel into the prepared 8×8 pan. Let it cool for 12-24 hours.
- Sprinkle Maldon sea salt onto the block of caramel. Remove the caramel from the pan. Brush vegetable oil onto a large knife to prevent hte caramel from sticking to it. Cut the caramel into 1×1 inch pieces and wrap in wax paper. Save in an air tight container for up to 9 months!
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
