Skip to main content
Dessert

Sugar Browning

A syrup made by browning brown sugar with water, then straining and storing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
Jump to recipe ↓

Sugar Browning

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. In a clean saucepan, melt the brown sugar over medium heat, stirring until it becomes slightly colored.

  2. Reduce heat and let it cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until it is nearly black but not burned.

  3. Pour in the water and bring to a boil for 5 to 6 minutes.

Strain and store

  1. Strain the mixture through a muslin cloth into a glass bottle.

  2. Cork the bottle and store for later use.

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

Brown sugar
Caramelizes to give the syrup its deep color and molasses-like flavor.
Water
Dissolves the caramelized sugar into a pourable liquid syrup.

The step that matters

Cooking the sugar until nearly black but not burned. Sugar darkens quickly once caramelization starts. Stopping at nearly black keeps the flavor rich, while going further turns it bitter and burnt.

“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.

You might also like