Caramel for Browning Soups and Gravies
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the brown sugar slowly in a small saucepan, stirring with a knife or flat stick until smooth.
Allow the sugar to darken carefully, ensuring it does not burn.
Slowly add the hot water while mixing thoroughly.
Let it simmer, scraping the sides to dissolve the sugar.
Once dissolved, bottle and cork the caramel.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Brown sugar
- Provides the sweetness and the deep, molasses-like flavour as it darkens.
- Hot water
- Dissolves the darkened sugar into a pourable liquid.
The step that matters
Allow the sugar to darken carefully. Sugar goes from amber to bitter and burnt within seconds once it overheats. Low, steady heat and constant stirring let it colour evenly and develop flavour without scorching.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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