at Tue, 14 Oct 2003 04:15:35 GMT in <vutmovk1pji733ahmccfkuolmd86cj3fl3@
4ax.com>, (shipwreck) wrote :

>I tried to make a caramel by boiling sugar and water. What I got was
>just boiled sugar and water. A clear solution that never turned
>brown.
>
>Then, I mixed 1/2 stick butter with the sugar with some water, and
>got...caramel.
>
>However, in looking up other recipes calling for caramel, it's stated
>to just boil sugar and water.
>
>Thus, my question is, can you get caramel just from boiling sugar and
>water?
>

It depends on what you want in a caramel. If you want the soft, smooth
caramel that typically has a buttery flavour and that you cut into cubes,
then you want the type with butter added. Butter yields a richer, silkier
kind of caramel.

If, OTOH, you want the harder, chewy caramel you often use for coating
things, or that you cut into strips, then the sugar/water method is the way
to go. You need to boil it for a while, because the objective is to drive
out all the water. So you just wait while it boils (and it will boil with
great ferocity) and then starts to change colour. Take it off when it's
just a little less brown than what you want. Pour it *immediately* because
it hardens fast. Also, as soon as you've poured and spread or coated, fill
the pot with warm water or you'll have a sticky mess to remove from it.


--
Alex Rast

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