My husband, Paul, always has been a caramel fan. Something about the chewy, watch-your-dental-crown challenge, along with the buttery vanilla taste of the caramel itself, caught his fancy – and stuck, no pun intended, long ago.
Kelly's Karamels come in four flavors -- traditional, cherry, pecan and sea salt
No surprise then when he fell in love with Kelly’s Karamels. Located in Troy, Michigan, Kelly’s offerings are pretty basic – traditional vanilla, cherry, pecan and sea salt caramel flavors, plus caramel dip.
Kelly’s isn’t particularly high-tech, which adds to its appeal. Kelly’s basic recipe is said to be Grandma Renie’s, who developed it “when Alaska was still a territory.” Now Kelly, and son, Craig, continue the tradition, creating a delectable caramel that melts in your mouth with minimal stickiness.
A good sampler is the 16-piece assortment. It retails for $15 a box and includes four ‘karamels’ of each flavor. The traditional offers caramel lovers a chunk of heaven with its smooth, creamy, rich taste. The cherry caramels are not blended; instead, Montmorency dried cherries from Traverse City, Michigan, are mixed with the caramel, creating bites of pure caramel with delicious sweet/tart cherries. Similarly, pecan halves are mixed into the caramel, giving each pecan caramel a chocolate ‘turtle’-like quality, minus the chocolate. And the sea salt caramels are traditional caramels with Australian pink sea salt sprinkled on top, to provide a sweet, with a touch of salty, taste.
A box of Kelly's Karamels
Kelly’s Karamels come in plain white boxes, occasionally hand decorated with seasonal stickers, taped shut, tied with a bow and tagged with the Kelly’s carded labels. Each candy is hand cut and wrapped, and in the case of the assortments, labeled with either a signature KK sticker, or illustrated flavor sticker – two stemmed cherries, a pecan or (sea salt) anchor.
The homemade caramels are created in small batches from scratch, contain all natural ingredients, including no high-fructose corn syrup, and deliver on taste and quality. Kelly’s Karamels come in 4-, 8- and 16-piece boxes and range in price from $4.70 to $15. Corporate and special event orders also are welcomed.
Kelly’s Karamels are available for purchase at various Michigan retail outlets, including Busch’s grocery stores, Nino Salvaggio, Detroit Chocolat, Holiday Market and Plum Market. They also can be ordered online at www.kellyskaramels.com
