Burned Sugar or Caramel
Ingredients
Directions
Make the caramel
Place the sugar in an old tin cup or ladle over a sharp fire.
Stir with a stick until the sugar turns black and emits a burning smell.
Thin and store
Add the cold water and stir.
Boil gently for 4 to 5 minutes.
Remove from heat, cool, and bottle 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
- White sugar
- Melts and browns over heat, providing the caramel's colour, sweetness and toasted flavour.
The step that matters
Stopping the browning at the right point. As sugar heats it caramelises, building flavour and colour. If it keeps heating past that point it becomes bitter and can burn, so the stirring must be watched closely.
“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
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe 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.