Burnt Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
Make the burnt sugar
In a kettle, combine 5 lbs of sugar and 3 quarts of water.
Set the kettle on the stove and mix well.
Allow the mixture to boil until it turns black.
Add 2 quarts of water to the blackened sugar and stir to melt.
Pour and ventilate
Pour the syrup into a can or open-neck jars.
Open a window to ventilate as the smoke can be thick.
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
- Sugar
- Caramelizes as it heats, browning into a dark, bittersweet syrup with a smoky flavor.
The step that matters
Boiling until black. Sugar darkens quickly once it passes caramel stage and begins to burn. Going too far produces bitter flavor and thick smoke, so watch the colour closely and stop when it is black but not charred.
“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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