Aunt Val's Caramel - the Best Ever Homemade Caramel Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is caramel just sugar and water? ›

According to Fine Cooking, caramel can be made using either a dry or wet method: Dry: White granulated sugar is placed over a medium-high heat and cooked until it turns liquid and becomes golden brown. Wet: Water is added to the pan, which allows the sugar to cook longer and develop better flavors.

This can be caused by extended cooking times (especially under acidic conditions) and the use of the enzyme invertase. Increasing reducing sugars will add to the flavor and color of caramel – but too much can cause excessive stickiness.

Wet caramel is made by combining sugar and a liquid and cooking them together, while dry caramel is made from just sugar, heated in a dry pan until it liquefies and browns.

If caramels are too soft, that means the temperature didn't get high enough. Again place the caramel back into a sauce pan with a couple of tablespoons of water and heat to 244°F. If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can test with a cold water test. Details on how to use this method can be found here.

To make a perfect easy caramel every-time, simply add one or two drops of vinegar and just enough water to wet the sugar. The idea is to lower the PH. you can also use a small pinch of citric acid or cream of tartar if you have.

Do not stir, but instead swirl and shake the pan to distribute the caramelized sugar in and around the unmelted sugar and to promote even browning. Watch it carefully to make sure it doesn't burn. The caramel is done when it's a deep amber color and all sugar lumps have dissolved.

Don't stir the pot

It makes sense to stir your pot, but you have to resist the urge. The reason that caramel turns back into sugar crystals and becomes grainy is because too much moisture has been lost in the cooking process.

For each cup (240 mL) of caramel sauce that you need to thicken, run 1 tbsp (14.7 mL) of cold water into a measuring cup, and slowly stir in 1 tbsp of cornstarch. Pour the cornstarch mixture into your pot caramel sauce, and stir constantly. Keep the sauce on low heat until it begins to thicken.

This can happen if sugar crystals form on the sides of the saucepan or if the sugar syrup is mixed too much while cooking. Adjust the Heat: If the caramel cooked at a high heat, causing it to crystallize or burn, lower the heat for future batches.

How do you keep caramel from getting hard? ›

Cooking your Cocomels in a liquid (like canned coconut milk, water or something fun like chai tea, coffee, etc…). One note: be careful of Cocomel that sits on the bottom of a dish as that can burn during baking.

Explanation: The typical formula for caramels is C24H36O18 , so the elements of water have been removed from the sucrose.

The best caramel starts with regular granulated sugar. This refined white sugar is made from sugarcane or sugar beets, and it melts more evenly than unrefined sugars. Some recipes call for brown sugar as a shortcut because its dark color looks like caramel as soon as it melts.

For the "dry" caramel method, you simply heat the sugar in an empty pan until melted and caramelized. It's quick and direct, but the risk is that some parts of the sugar melt faster than others, and can burn before the rest had made it even to light amber.

To make a perfect easy caramel every-time, simply add one or two drops of vinegar and just enough water to wet the sugar. The idea is to lower the PH. you can also use a small pinch of citric acid or cream of tartar if you have.

Sometimes during this phase the cold fatty additions make the sugar mixture seize up. That can result in chunks of hardened, candy-like caramel and it can be discouraging. Avoid this by using room temperature butter and cream so the temperature contrast isn't as great.

Heat until the syrup reaches 240 to 245 degrees Fahrenheit. The lower the temperature, the softer the resulting caramels will be.