Caramel Color
Ingredients
Directions
Make the caramel
Combine the sugar with just enough water to dissolve it in a small saucepan.
Boil until the mixture turns dark brown and begins to blacken in the center.
Carefully add the hot water to the burning sugar and stir until it becomes a brown liquid, similar to strong coffee.
Continue boiling until the mixture thickens to the consistency of molasses.
Bottle
Bottle 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
- Granulated sugar
- Caramelises when heated, browning into dark colour and a bittersweet flavour.
The step that matters
Adding the hot water to the burning sugar. Hot water poured into very hot sugar causes violent steaming and splattering, so it must be added carefully. The water also halts the burning and dissolves the hardened sugar into a pourable liquid.
“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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipes