Just a few tropical ingredients are needed to make a delicious treat that although extremely good are a rather poor substitute for being on one of Hawaii’s beautiful islands. I brought the mac nuts, flaky sea salt and Kona honey home with me but your local honey will make a fine substitute and the nuts are readily available at the grocery store.

Love, love coconut. You?

Cream, vanilla bean, macadamia nuts, coconuts, Kona honey, butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and flaky Hawaiian sea salt are the yummy ingredients.

Ingredients

Makes 18 or more if you cut them into smaller pieces

1 cup macadamia nuts

2/3 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

7 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup plus 1 Tbsp heavy cream (I use lactose-free for the Handyman and it works just fine)

4 1/2 Tbsp good local honey

1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp light corn syrup

3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp light brown sugar

Scraped seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod

1/4 tsp flaky sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper, making sure the paper rises about 1 1/2 inches over the edges of the pan, set aside.

Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet and roast for 7 minutes. Spread the coconut out on a separate baking sheet and toast for just 2 minutes. Place the nuts and coconut in a medium heatproof bowl and set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat, then add the cream, honey, corn syrup, brown sugar, vanilla seeds and salt. Stir until combined, then increase the heat to medium. Bring to a boil. Do not stir. Continue to boil until the temperature reaches 253 to 255 F on a candy thermometer… the top end of firm ball stage. This takes between 12 and 20 minutes. Remove from heat immediately — move fast, as the temperature of the caramel will continue to rise. Pour over the nuts and coconut. Then pour into your lined square pan and flatten with a spatula.

A candy thermometer is a must here.
Pour into a parchment-lined 8-inch pan.
Wait an hour for it to firm up…catch a sunset?
Cut the slab in half and then each half into 8 rectangles. You can then cut the rectangles into three if you want smaller treats.
If you are gifting the caramels, wrap them in parchment.
These caramels keep well so can be savoured during many sunsets. The caramels will keep for 2 weeks at room temperature or a month in the fridge. Store in an airtight container.