In the mid-1980s, while attending college at SUNYBinghamton, I spent a year living in the neighboring town of Johnson City. My apartment was two blocks from a small confectionery operation called Fair Play Caramels, which meant the air was always filled with the wonderful aroma of fresh candy. Location, location, location, indeed.

Fair Play Caramels, alas, shut down soon thereafter. But I’ve been hooked on caramels ever since. You probably have, too, even if you don’t have a sweet tooth, because caramelization turns out to be the key element in virtually every cooking process that involves browning.

That nice golden-brown color you get when making toast? That’s from the caramelization of the sugars naturally present in the bread. The browned edges on roasted vegetables or cooked fruit? Same thing. Even meat undergoes caramelization, via a process called the Maillard reaction (named after the French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard), in which sugars react with protein in the presence of heat.

This is why brown coloring ingredients are usually referred to as “caramel color.” And the first ingredient in Gravy Master – the brown liquid used to add color to gravies – is listed as “caramelized sugar.”

But the tastiest caramelization is the kind that takes place when sugar is heated along with dairy products. A tarte tatin tastes so good because the apples are cooked in sugar and butter; dulce de leche tastes so good because it’s essentially just cooked sugar and milk. And of course caramel sauce and Kraft caramels are addictively delicious.

Happily, caramel-based sweets are surprisingly easy to make at home. Unlike many other candies, which practically require a chemistry lab, caramels can be made with the simplest of ingredients and with nothing more specialized than a candy thermometer (available at many supermarkets for less than $10).

Best of all, you can make caramel sauce and caramel candies as part of the same operation. Just ladle off some of the caramel when it reaches a certain temperature – that’s your sauce, perfect for spooning over ice cream, or as a dip for slices of apple or pieces of chocolate. Then let the rest of it keep cooking a bit longer and use that to make your candies (see accompanying recipe).

Having tried a variety of caramel recipes, here are some things I’ve learned along the way:

Most recipes call for a mix of basic white sugar and corn syrup. That’s fine, but I’ve found it’s better to use brown sugar. The molasses in the brown sugar serves the same role as the corn syrup (this involves a lot of chemistry, but the short version is that it keeps the candy from crystalizing), and you end up with a deeper, darker color.

Another way to add some color – along with some wonderfully complex flavor – is to include some dark rum in the recipe.

When the cooked block of caramel has cooled and it’s time to cut it into pieces of candy, it’s handy to have two kitchen tools not usually associated with confectionery projects: a pizza cutter, to cut the block of caramel into strips, and a meat cleaver, to chop the strips into bite-size nuggets.

If you really want to gild the lily, melt some good bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler, dunk the caramels in it, and set the chocolate-dipped caramels on a rack until the chocolate hardens.

Making dulce de leche is even easier, because all the ingredients needed for it are present in a can of sweetened condensed milk. The simplest cooking method is to remove the label from the can and then place the can in a pot of boiling water. It sounds weird, and the label always says, “Never heat in can,” but it’s perfectly safe as long as you keep the water level above the top of the can.

When you open the can, you’ll find the milk has been transformed into an irresistible caramelized pudding. Boiling the can for two hours produces a light tan dulce de leche with a mild, vanilla-ish flavor; three hours yields a darker color and a more complex, nutty flavor.

If you’d rather not disobey the label directions, you can also make dulce de leche by setting up an impromptu bain-marie, or water bath (see accompanying method).This approach lacks the chemistry-set “wow” factor of the can-boiling method, but it’s faster, plus you’ll get nice browned skin on top, similar to what you’re used to seeing on a creme brulee – and no blowtorch required!

All of these preparations smell sensational, by the way. So even if you don’t live next to a caramel factory, you can still partake of that heavenly aroma. Location, location, location, it turns out, is as near as your kitchen.

Rum-Infused Caramel Sauce & Candies

vegetable oil or cooking spray
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream, preferably not ultrapasteurized
1/2 stick unsalted butter
pinch salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, and grease the foil with oil or cooking spray.

2. Clip a candy thermometer onto a deep saucepan and add the brown sugar, cream, butter, salt, and 1/3 cup of the rum. Bring to a boil, stirring until the butter is melted. Then reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until thermometer reads 235°, about 15 minutes. Use a ladle to transfer about 1 cup of the mixture to small glass container. Set aside – this is your caramel sauce. (Sauce will keep several weeks if refrigerated, and can be re heated in a microwave oven or in a pan of simmering water.

3. Continue cooking the rest of the mixture until the thermometer reads 248°. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in the vanilla and the remaining tablespoon of rum. Pour into prepared baking pan and let cool until firm, about an hour. Invert onto cutting board, remove foil, and invert again. Use knife or pizza cutter, greased with oil or cooking spray, to cut into bite-size pieces. Wrap in parchment paper or waxed paper.

Dulce de Leche

Set up a bain-marie by pouring 1 can of sweetened condensed milk into a 9-inch baking dish. Then set the baking dish into a large ovenproof skillet or pan and add warm water to the skillet, at least up to the level of the milk in the pie plate. Place in a 425- oven and cook until browned on top and creamy within, about 75 minutes.