History of Caramels:
The word caramel was first recorded in the English language in 1725; it comes from the Spanish caramelo. The original Spanish word did not refer to the chewy caramel candy we know today, but more likely, to caramelized sugar. The source of caramelo is unknown, but some scholars believe it is related to the late Latin calamellus, a diminutive form of calamus, reed or cane—an implied reference to sugar cane.
We know that soft caramel candy is an American invention—we just don’t know exactly when it was invented. By about 1650, Americans were boiling water and sugar in deep kettles in their fireplaces to make hard candies. Someone, at some point, added butter and milk to the pot and invented the caramel. By the mid-1800s, there were nearly 400 American candy manufacturers producing hard candies as well as caramels—recipes for caramels abound in cookbooks of the era. Milton Hershey’s first business was the Lancaster Caramel Company: He learned to make chocolate when seeking a coating for his caramels.
We know that soft caramel candy is an American invention—we just don’t know exactly when it was invented. By about 1650, Americans were boiling water and sugar in deep kettles in their fireplaces to make hard candies. Someone, at some point, added butter and milk to the pot and invented the caramel. By the mid-1800s, there were nearly 400 American candy manufacturers producing hard candies as well as caramels—recipes for caramels abound in cookbooks of the era. Milton Hershey’s first business was the Lancaster Caramel Company: He learned to make chocolate when seeking a coating for his caramels.