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Bread

On Stock, and Clear Soups

A caramel made from sugar and water used to color stock and clear soups.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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On Stock, and Clear Soups

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. Put the sugar into a copper or enamelled pan.

  2. Set it over the fire and stir until melted.

  3. Simmer for 15 minutes until it reaches the desired brown tint.

Finish and store

  1. Add the water, boil, and skim the mixture.

  2. Let it cool, then bottle and cork for use.

Use

  1. Add a little of this caramel to your soup before the three hours' simmering stage for a golden brown tint.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

White sugar
Melts and caramelises to give the brown colour and a toasted, bittersweet flavour.

The step that matters

Simmering to the brown tint. Once sugar melts it darkens quickly, and past a light amber it turns bitter and can burn. Caramel colour depends on watching the pan, not just the clock, so stop when the desired tint is reached.

“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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