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March 10th is Rock the Red Pump Day. The purpose of which is provide AIDS awareness for women and girls. Many bloggers are turning their blog red for the occasion.
National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD). Launched by the Office of Women’s Health, NWGHAAD is a nationwide observance that encourages people to take action in the fight against HIV/AIDS and raise awareness of its impact on women and girls.
While great progress has been made in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, women still represent 27% of all new AIDS diagnoses, with African-American women accounting for 66% of that group.
“Every 47 minutes, a woman tests positive for HIV in the United States.“
Last year this blog rocked the red pump with red stiletto sugar cookies. This year in continuing my obsession with red velvet flavor, I experimented with making caramels. This batch was pushed into stiletto shaped molds but in the end, it was too soft to work with.
I did leave out the chocolate part of the red velvet flavor. I was afraid the candy result wouldn’t be red enough to rock the red pump but next time it’s going in as it will probably deepen the flavor. However, these tasted sweet and bright and just look at that color.
Red Velvet Caramels
(slightly adapted from My Mom’s Famous Caramels* from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe)
This is the second time I have used this recipe and it’s excellent. More comprehensive instructions and tips are found on her post in the link above.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup corn syrup
- 5 ounces condensed milk
- 2 ounces buttermilk
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
*I halved her recipe and it made over 4 dozen caramels
Directions:
- Line a baking sheet with lightly greased parchment paper.
- In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, bring the sugar, corn syrup, 2 ounces of the condensed milk. buttermilk, salt, butter, food coloring and vinegar to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- When the mixture has boiled, stir in the rest of the condensed milk.
- when the mixture begins to boil again, add a candy thermometer.
- Boil the mixture do not stir and do not let the temperature go over 234 degrees F.
- Test the caramels by dropping a bit into cold water. Once it forms a soft ball, the mixture is ready to be removed from heat. The longer you leave the mixture on the heat, the harder the caramels will be. You choose.
- Remove pan from stove, stir in vanilla and pour onto baking sheet. Do not scrape the pot, discard what is left in the bottom.
- Let caramel cool completely, cut into pieces and wrap in wax paper.
12 comments
What a wonderful idea! Did you make the recipe again with the cocoa in it? If so how much did you use and how did it turn out? Question on this recipe…it has vinegar in it twice. Is one of those measurements suspose to be vanilla?
I never made them again. thanks for reminding me! I need to do so and use the cocoa powder or red velvet flavor.
Red velvet caramels? Very innovative! They have a beautiful bright colour.
Those look fabulous!
Glad so many people rocked the red. I had a blast in my new red shoes.
These look fabulous. I love homemade caramels! Plus, if they're red velvet, what could be better than that?
Their color is amazing! Beautiful treats for a beautiful cause! You have a lovely blog with beautiful recipes!
what an awesome way to rock the red pump! These caramels sound amazingly delicious…I love all things red velvet.
Love the red caramel. Thanks for this great awareness post. Sad to realize however that the stats on HIV and AIDS is still so high.
Red velvet caramels?? Oh my word, these look amazing!
I have never seen a caramel that's so vibrant in colour – this is only something you could cook up. Bright, happy, and totally lip-smackingly awesome.
What a beautiful batch of red treats for a good cause. This is a lovely post! Thank you for sharing.
Love! Such a great cause, and the caramels are perfect.