To Boil Sugar to Caramel
Ingredients
Directions
Make the caramel
Add 1 gill of spring water to each pound of lump sugar.
Boil the sugar and water together very quickly over a clear fire, skimming it very carefully as soon as it boils.
Keep boiling until the sugar snaps when a little of it is dropped into a pan of cold water.
If it remains hard, the sugar has attained the right degree; then squeeze in a little lemon-juice and let it remain an instant on the fire.
Set the pan into another of cold water, and the caramel is then ready for use.
Watch the sugar carefully and remove it from the fire the instant it is done.
Use the caramel
Use the caramel to ornament the insides of well-oiled moulds, spreading it in fine threads or a network with a fork.
Light pastry can be topped with the caramel for a decorative effect.
If you are inexperienced, consider purchasing caramel from a confectioner to avoid failures.
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. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Lump sugar (in the method)
- Forms the caramel itself, turning to a brittle, amber-coloured syrup when boiled.
- Lemon juice (in the method)
- Adds a little acidity that helps keep the cooked sugar from turning grainy.
The step that matters
Judging the sugar's stage by the snap test. Sugar darkens and can burn within seconds once it reaches the right stage. Testing by dropping a little into cold water shows when it is ready, and removing it from the heat at that moment prevents bitter, scorched caramel.
“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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