Buknt Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
Make the burnt sugar
Place an old tin ladle over a sharp fire and add 2 ounces of loaf sugar.
Stir with a stick or skewer until the sugar is thoroughly black and burnt.
Gradually add ½ cup of water while stirring.
Boil gently for about 4 minutes, being careful not to let it boil over.
Finish and store
Strain the mixture and let it cool.
Bottle it for later 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
- Loaf sugar
- Caramelises and darkens under heat, giving the burnt sugar its colour and bitter, smoky flavour.
- Water
- Dissolves the blackened sugar into a liquid that can be strained and stored.
The step that matters
Burning the sugar until thoroughly black. Sugar darkens and turns bitter as it passes from caramel into burnt sugar. Stirring keeps it from scorching unevenly, and the water must be added gradually because adding it to very hot sugar can cause it to spit and seize.
“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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