Caramel or Burnt Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
Place 4 heaping tablespoons of granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in a saucepan on low heat.
Cover and cook gently for 30 minutes until it turns a bright coffee-brown syrup.
Do not stir; shift the saucepan if necessary to prevent burning.
Add 6 tablespoons of boiling water, one spoonful at a time, pouring it into the center of the syrup.
Let it boil gently for 2 minutes without stirring, then mix with a spoon and cook for another minute.
Cool before using.
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
- Sugar melts and caramelizes into a brown syrup, providing the color and flavor of the caramel.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can melt evenly and caramelize without scorching at the start.
The step that matters
Do not stir the syrup while it cooks. Stirring can splash syrup onto the pan sides and encourage sugar crystals to form, leading to a grainy texture. Gently shifting the pan helps the syrup colour evenly and prevents burning.
“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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