Salted caramel pecans

These are divine – addictive in the nicest possible chewiest way. The first batch I made disappeared within minutes; the chocolate didn’t even get a chance to set.

Over medium heat, toast the pecans in a frying pan, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about four to five minutes, being careful not to burn them.

Prepare two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the pecans in clusters of three on the parchment paper, leaving an inch or so of space between each cluster. I find that placing two pecans side-by-side and then one on top, lying across the other two, works well.

In a heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter with the brown sugar, salt, honey, and sweetened condensed milk. When the mixture is smooth, increase the heat and bring to a boil, stirring continually, until the mixture reaches 112 degrees on a sugar thermometer.

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Allow to cool down for five minutes or so, then, using a teaspoon, carefully spoon some of the hot caramel over each cluster of pecans.

The caramel will begin to set as it cools – if it gets too firm before you are done putting caramel on your clusters, just return it to the heat briefly to loosen it up.

In a heavy-based saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter over a low heat until smooth. In the same manner as the caramel, spoon the melted chocolate over the clusters, making a swirl in the top of the chocolate with the back of the spoon. Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle each cluster with sea salt.

Allow to cool completely and set. Remove from the parchment paper and pop into bags or jars – making sure the container is tightly sealed.