Caramels (Tootsie Rolls)

Preparation steps

• Melt the butter and honey over a low heat, add the diced chocolate and stir until completely melted, then finally stir in a teaspoon of the vanilla aroma.
• Mix cocoa, pudding and powdered sugar (or just pudding and powdered sugar for white caramels and a couple of tablespoons of ground hazelnuts if desired), then pour over the hot melted mixture of honey, butter and chocolate and mix with a spoon. As the mixture thickens, replace the spoon with a silicone spatula and mix as if kneading to form a smooth ball.
• Sprinkle the work surface with plenty of powdered sugar, then shake the mixture and mix with your hands. You need to get a mixture that sticks to your hands just a little bit but doesn’t leave a mark on your hands. If your mixture is too soft, sprinkle it with a little more powdered sugar but don’t worry, the caramels will harden finely in the fridge. Wrap the mixture in baking paper and leave in the freezer for about half an hour or in the refrigerator for an hour or more.
• Tear off the pieces from the cold mixture, form a long roller about 1 cm thick and cut into pieces of the desired size. Wrap in prepared baking paper or cellophane and keep cool.
• You can use agave syrup instead of honey. About 50 candies fall out of this mixture, depending on the size.