Caramel or Burned Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
Make the caramel
Put the sugar into an old tin cup over a brisk fire.
Stir until it is dark and smells burnt.
Add the cold water.
Let it boil gently for a few minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat.
Cool and store
Let it cool before bottling for use.
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
- Browns through caramelization to give the syrup its color, deep flavor and remaining sweetness.
The step that matters
Stir the sugar until dark. Sugar caramelizes over high heat and turns bitter quickly once it passes dark amber, so it needs close watching and constant stirring to brown evenly without 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.
More caramel recipes
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