How to make white caramel. How to make caramel at home? Homemade caramel: recipe, photo. How to make strawberry caramel from sugar and butter

Making caramel at home is a very fun activity. You can make decorations for cakes from caramel, sculpt a variety of shapes - great for the holidays, and as a gift - original and tasty. The caramel recipe is not at all complicated, but there are some minor subtleties.

You need a saucepan with a thick bottom - otherwise it will burn.

We make caramel according to the recipe: 1 cup sugar + 1/4 cup water (enough so that the sugar is only slightly moistened) + 1/2 teaspoon vinegar. I can’t say exactly what vinegar does here, but it is added there (according to old recipes). Most likely - to avoid crystallization of sugar.

Then we cook everything over low heat until we test for a “hard ball” (drop syrup into the water, we want it to become like chewing gum - it doesn’t disintegrate, but sticks and stretches). It’s better to undercook than to overcook, otherwise you’ll end up with burnt sugar - it’s not an acquired taste and not everyone likes it.

If you are going to sculpt from caramel, then after cooking we put the container in which everything was cooked in a pan with hot water so that the caramel hardens more slowly, and you have time to make something out of it.

We take the required portion of caramel with a spoon and spread it in different directions several times, then it will become “pearly”, and after that we sculpt it as if from mastic. If some part has frozen ahead of time, then it can be heated over a fire - it will soften, and then you can sculpt again.

If you need liquid caramel, then add a little butter and water to the resulting mass (when the sugar has melted and boiled for about 10 minutes), and if you need thick caramel, then pour it into greased molds and let cool. You can also make caramel with the addition of citric acid, nuts, cocoa or chocolate.

There are special devices for sculpting caramel. It’s difficult to find these for sale in Russia, but they are available abroad.

When heated, granulated sugar (brown sugar can also be used) melts and at 170°C acquires a golden and then dark brown color. The darker the color, the more intense the aroma. Some recipes recommend adding water to make caramel, but this is not necessary - Sugar can be melted without water at all.

To make caramel, place sugar in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Do not stir until most of the sugar has melted. Once the sugar has melted, stir until it reaches the desired color (this is quick, only 1-4 minutes). Watch your sugar carefully - caramel darkens quickly and may burn .

Caramelized sugar can be used to coat caramel custard molds, make caramel nuts, and to flavor mousses or ice cream. Well, as already said, sculpt various decorations from caramel.

How to avoid crystallization

Heat the sugar over low heat without stirring until it completely dissolves. Bring the syrup to a boil only when the sugar has already dissolved, and do not stir after boiling.

You can squeeze a little lemon juice. Or - as stated above - you can apparently add a little vinegar for this, preferably homemade apple cider vinegar, of course.

Dip a pastry brush into hot water and brush the crystals off the sides of the pan until they dissolve into the syrup.

Be careful not to touch hot caramel - it can cause severe burns.

Caramel - melt sugar WITHOUT WATER

This is already our recipe, according to which we have been cooking lately; we no longer use any other recipes:

Making caramel without water.

Pour 2 cups of sugar (WITHOUT WATER) into a ladle. stir without interruption(we heat on an electric stove, on three rubles from 4 stove positions, because on quite high heat). When it starts to become liquid, lower it to two degrees, without ceasing to stir (in no case do we stop stirring, otherwise it will immediately burn). When completely melted, lower to unity and stir until completely dissolved. Be careful not to let out smoke or burn it. You can even remove it and continue stirring so as not to overheat.

When everything is melted, pour it into a silicone mold. Caution, VERY hot!

It hardens to the point of hardness, becomes like glass, not sticky at all, but completely solid. Then we break it into pieces and eat it like candy. TASTY! You can dissolve it in water, make a syrup, it will taste a little like Pepsi-Cola. This syrup can be made thick (dissolve a lot of burnt sugar in a small amount of water), excellent for coffee, gingerbread, etc.

Before pouring into the silicone mold, you can add spices to the caramel, stir, and then pour into the mold and let it harden.

Delicious caramel-based sweetness

Slowly heat one glass of sugar until it becomes liquid, add half a liter of milk, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring, then add 2 tablespoons of honey, 100 g of butter, 2 tablespoons of vanilla sugar, and cook over low heat, stirring, as much time for the mass to thicken.

Place the mixture on greased parchment paper and wait for it to cool slightly, then cut into squares or diamonds with a knife.

Ready caramel

For those who don’t really like to experiment: you can find good caramel on sale. For example:

Monin syrups is produced by the French brand of the same name, which is known as the leading manufacturer of alcoholic and non-alcoholic syrups in the world. They have There is also caramel syrup.

Kotanyi has excellent caramel with different flavors in mills: vanilla , orange, and many other varieties. Perfect for muffins, coffee, tea, porridge, almost anything.

Candy caramel Malvik "Mini-M"- this is a tasty and natural delicacy that you can enjoy almost endlessly. For those who want to try everything at once, this assortment was specially created in which everyone will find their favorite taste.

The very name of this type of sweets comes from the Latin name for sugar cane, and although history is silent about the discoverer of the preparation of this delicacy, there is a legendary story about how accidentally roasted sugar cane marked the beginning of an entire confectionery industry.

In the 14th-16th centuries, sugar was not available to everyone, so candy was a gourmet treat, and at the end of the 19th century, caramel had another form - medicinal candies, which made taking bitter medicines more attractive.

In the food industry, caramel is produced in several forms: candy and filled caramel. In addition, medicinal sweets, fortified, and soft caramel are produced.

Some of the above types of caramel can be made at home.

How to make crystal caramel from sugar

If you decide to make your own caramel, you need to remember that most recipes maintain a 1/3 water to sugar ratio. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally (unless otherwise specified in the recipe).

To begin with, you can try simply cooking sugar candies, adding only lemon juice to the sweet mass. Gradually, through experience, it will become clear how much you need to cook on a certain stove and in a certain pan.

If you boil only water and sugar, you will get candy. If you add medicinal herbs, you can get homemade sweets for coughs, sore throats, etc. You can melt sugar without water, but you need to be very careful not to miss the moment when it is time to remove it from the heat, since it is very easy to burn the caramel mass. In this case, you should start stirring when the sugar is half melted.

By adding cream and milk, the caramel will become softer and acquire a pleasant milky taste.

Soft caramel recipe

An amazing recipe from French cuisine for those who love unusual tastes, for example, combining salty with sweet.

The preparation itself is easy, and the results are incredible.

Cooking in the French spirit: everything is mixed, and the result is something.

So, divide the sugar into 6 portions of 50 g each, take a saucepan with a thick bottom, pour the first portion into it, put it on the fire, melt without stirring and heat until amber in color, add the next portion, wait until it melts. Don't interfere! You can tilt the pan slightly in a circle to help the sugar melt more evenly. Thus, repeating the described steps, step by step, melt all the sugar.

Sour cream must be of very high quality. If it is prepared with any additives, it may curdle when heated. In general, it is safer to use cream in this case (33%!). Place the cream in a separate bowl on the fire and heat almost to a boil, but do not boil.

The sugar, which by this time has taken on a dark golden color, is removed from the heat and butter is added to it (if the butter is not salted, then add salt). To stir thoroughly. Now hot cream is added to the syrup in small portions, each portion must be stirred thoroughly.

Now the almost finished caramel needs to be put on the fire, heated for about 6 minutes (for a pan with a thick bottom), if the bottom is thin - 2-3 minutes less, and the fire can be made smaller.

The finished caramel will take on a delicate milk chocolate color.

It needs to be covered with cling film, directly over the surface, and placed in the refrigerator for a day. The unique taste will perfectly complement buns, will complement coffee, or can be eaten as is.

Recipe for fragrant caramels on a stick

You can try a simple basic recipe for making caramel on a stick at home. Basic because once you taste a homemade delicacy without additives or chemicals, you will want to experiment and add other ingredients.

For lollipops you need:

• A glass of clean water;
• 3 cups sugar;
• Lemon juice – two full spoons;
• Peppermint oil;
• A teaspoon of cognac;
• Vanilla on the tip of a spoon.

Sugar is poured into a saucepan with a thick bottom, water is poured into it, the whole thing is heated over low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. The caramel must be stirred; it is better to use a wooden spoon for this.

Then cognac and vanillin are added. You can also stock up on natural food colorings in advance and add them, the candies will be bright and attractive.

As soon as the mass becomes homogeneous, remove it from the heat and add lemon juice and mint oil (for those who like mint taste). Without lemon juice, the lollipops will be too cloying, but this is also a matter of taste.

The lollipop sticks need to be prepared in advance. If you cannot find special sticks, you can use toothpicks, but the sharp ends should be blunted so that the child does not get hurt.

You also need to prepare the molds in advance (silicone ones can also be used), they should be generously greased with vegetable oil. The hot mass is poured into molds, and before it hardens, you need to stick sticks into it.

To make cooling faster, you can place the lollipops in the refrigerator. Then carefully remove from the molds, you can wrap them in beautiful paper and the delicacy - lollipops - is ready.

Juicy apples in sweet caramel

Apples in caramel and chocolate glaze

When the family gets tired of gnawing on fresh apples, you can not exclude them from the diet, but serve them in a different form, since they themselves undergo only minimal processing and retain all their beneficial qualities.

Here's what you can make with regular apples and a few additional ingredients:

• 600 g small apples;
• 250 g – sugar;
• 100 g water;
• 20 g lemon juice;
• Chocolate bar;
• Ground nuts.

Wash the apples, remove the stems, insert skewers into each apple instead of the stem. Make a puncture on the side of the fruit opposite the skewer (this will keep the apple intact during cooking).

Place apples in boiling water for five minutes. Place the boiled fruits on a dish, dry with napkins, turning each one over.

Melt the chocolate in a water bath, place the bowl of chocolate in a larger bowl, add boiling water so that it does not harden.

Pour water and sugar into a thick-bottomed saucepan, cook over low heat until caramelized, then add lemon juice and stir.

Holding the apples by the skewer, dip them into the caramel; you can also pour them on top from a spoon. After the caramel, the apples are dipped in chocolate and then rolled in nuts.

Chinese caramel apple recipe

A completely unusual approach to cooking apples. To get an exquisite oriental dish you will need:

• Apples, preferably hard varieties – 5 pieces;
• Lemon juice;
• 80 g flour;
• A teaspoon of starch;
• Three egg whites;
• 100 g milk;
• Sugar – 250 g;
• 150 g water;
• Sesame.

Peel the washed apples and cut them into slices. Place a frying pan with high sides on the fire with plenty of vegetable oil.

To prepare the batter, starch and flour are mixed, milk and egg whites are whipped in a separate container, then poured into the flour and starch. Mix until smooth, then dip the apple slices into the batter and fry in oil until golden brown. Place on a paper towel to remove excess fat from the slices. Place in a warm place, for example, next to the stove.

Mix water and sugar in a saucepan, cook until golden brown, then add sesame seeds and stir. Apples are dipped in hot caramel and placed on a dish greased with butter or vegetable oil.

Serve immediately, with each serving accompanied by a cup of cold water. You need to dip hot apple slices into it.

You can also use plastic cocktail straws, cut in half, for lollipops.

If toothpicks are used instead of chopsticks, their sharp tips should be dulled so that children do not get hurt.

You can use white chocolate as well as dark chocolate as a glaze on top of caramel. You can add salt or pepper to dark chocolate to get an unusual taste.

You can use seasonings and spices and develop your own non-trivial recipes.

For recipes that require heat treatment of apples, it is better to take small, firm fruits.

You can also glaze raw apples with caramel (they can simply be slightly scalded with boiling water), in this case you need to take soft and also small apples.

Like any natural product, cooked caramel apples should not be stored for a long time (no more than 2-3 days in the refrigerator). True, there is some confidence that this problem is unlikely to be relevant; most likely, the prepared delicacy will not have time to reach the refrigerator.

Bon appetit!

I love having a jar of homemade caramel, condensed milk (boiled and regular), berry syrups and cream in my kitchen that I can quickly whip and use. This is so helpful when making baked goods and desserts!

Judge for yourself: pancakes and pancakes simply cannot taste bad if you top them with caramel or berry syrup! And even the most ordinary buns will sparkle with a new taste if you sprinkle them with pumpkin seeds.

All these little things determine the taste of the dessert, enrich and complement it. Today I will tell you how easy it is to make homemade caramel. The recipe will include step-by-step photos, so it will be absolutely easy for you to repeat everything at home.

Thick caramel or thin caramel sauce is delicious. Be sure to try it!

Ingredients:

• Granulated sugar - 225 g.
• Water - 65 g.
• Heavy cream - 85-250 g (depending on whether you want a thin sauce or thick caramel)
• Butter - 70 g.

How to cook:

In a saucepan or saucepan with a thick bottom, combine water (65 g) and sugar (225 g)

Place on the stove (over medium heat) and wait until all the granulated sugar has dissolved.

Once the sugar has melted, turn up the heat to high and cook the caramel until brown. It is important not to overdo it here, otherwise the caramel will be very bitter.

I usually don't wait for the amber color, I remove it immediately when I see the color appear. I remove it from the heat and carry out all other actions on the table. Pour in heavy cream (85 g). The cream should be warm (warm it to room temperature first). If you want a liquid caramel sauce for ice cream and desserts, you need to add more cream (250 g). When adding cream to boiling caramel, you need to be as careful as possible: the mixture will bubble, shoot and foam very much. There shouldn't be any children around!

After 1.5-2 minutes, the foam will subside a little and you can stir the mixture with a spatula.

Look at the caramel in the saucepan: there are practically no large bubbles anymore.

At the last stage of cooking, add butter (70 g) and mix again.

When the butter has melted, you can stir again to smooth the sauce.

You can pour the sauce into a jar and store for 2 weeks. Adjust the thickness of the caramel using the refrigerator: if you want a liquid sauce, heat it at room temperature. If you need it thicker, cool it.

You may not get the sauce as thick as you planned the first time. Continue experimenting, reducing or increasing the amount of cream in the recipe, eventually you will calculate your ideal formula.

If you want salted caramel, add large flakes of sea salt at the very end of cooking (while the sauce is still hot) and stir for better dissolution.
I suggest you watch the video recipe for salted caramel on our You Tube channel, I wish you a pleasant viewing:

You can coat the cake with thick caramel or use it as a layer instead of cream. In addition, caramel is poured over cupcakes, placed in the filling and used for a variety of delicious purposes!

Our family loves salted caramel, the taste is unusual and multifaceted.
Which caramel do you like better, sweet or salty? I would love your feedback on the recipe! Share photos (can be attached to comments), your reviews and cooking secrets!
I'd love to see what delicious treats you've made with homemade caramel. If you post photos on Instagram, please include the tag #pirogeevo or #pirogeevo. That way I can find them online. I will be very pleased! Thank you.

Caramel is a well-known and beloved delicacy by everyone. It makes incredibly beautiful lollipops or fragrant and tasty toffees. Do you know how to make sugar caramel from the simplest ingredients?

How to make caramel from sugar at home?

Ingredients:

• filtered water – 125 ml;
• fine sugar – 500 g.

Preparation

We will tell you first how to make caramel from sugar and water. So, pour filtered water into the pan and add sugar. Place the dishes on low heat and heat the mixture until the crystals are completely dissolved. Stir the liquid with a wooden spatula until the caramel darkens slightly. After that, put the delicacy in candy molds and put it in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:

• butter – 100 g;
• sugar – 200 g;
• liquid honey – 2 tbsp. spoons;
• cow's milk – 50 ml;
• vanillin - to taste.

Preparation

Heat the sugar very carefully over low heat until it melts. Then pour in the milk and boil the mixture for 10 minutes, stirring with a wooden spatula. After this, put a piece of butter, add honey and vanillin. Cook the caramel until it thickens, and then put the mass on a sheet of parchment paper, distribute it evenly and wait until it hardens. Next, cut it into pieces and serve the sweets for tea.

How to make caramel from sugar and milk?

Ingredients:

• milk – 100 ml;
• sugar – 300 g.

Preparation

Pour sugar into a frying pan with a thick bottom and pour in milk. Place the dishes on the fire and cook until the mixture darkens slightly, stirring with a wooden spoon. After this, pour the mixture into a saucer greased with oil and wait 15 minutes. After hardening, break the delicacy into pieces, put it in molds and put it in the refrigerator.

How to make strawberry caramel from sugar and butter?

Ingredients:

• sugar – 100 g;
• lemon juice – 1 teaspoon;
• butter – 20 g;
• strawberry juice – 40 ml.

Preparation

Pour granulated sugar into a saucepan, put a piece of butter, pour in strawberry juice and add a little lemon juice. Place the dishes on the stove and bring the mixture to a boil. After this, reduce the flame and cook the delicacy until it thickens a little and darkens slightly. Next, carefully pour the resulting syrup into molds greased with butter and put the candies in the refrigerator so that they harden thoroughly.

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How to make caramel from sugar?

Delicious and aromatic sugar caramels - are there people who have never tried them in their lives or tried to make them themselves? If you don’t know how to make caramel at home without ruining all the dishes, then we will teach you. To prepare this treat, you don't need anything other than sugar, vinegar or lemon juice and water.

Making caramel from sugar

Required products and equipment:

• 15 tablespoons of sugar;
• 5 tablespoons of water (the amount of ingredients can be changed as desired, but the main thing is that the ratio of water and sugar is 1 to 3);
• half a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar;
• a plate with cold water;
• clean tablespoons or molds;
• saucepan.

First, prepare a plate of cold water and place it somewhere not far from the stove and pan. Pour 5 tablespoons of boiled water into a saucepan and add sugar (15 tablespoons, or your proportions). Set the heat to medium power, and wait until the sugar dissolves in the water, add half a teaspoon of lemon juice or table vinegar so that the sugar mass does not roll into lumps, but becomes plastic. Stir constantly until most of the sugar has melted to prevent the caramel from burning.

When all the sugar has dissolved in the water, turn the heat down to the lowest setting just to maintain the temperature. Dip the spoon into the caramel and wait until it is filled with mixture. If you have molds, fill them with caramel. As soon as the spoon becomes full, immediately place it in a plate of cold water for a few seconds so that the mass “sets”. Place the filled spoon aside for a while to allow the candy to completely harden. Repeat the same with other spoons or molds. Sugar caramel is ready!

To make it easy to remove lollipops from spoons or molds, first grease the inside of these containers with vegetable oil. Do not use too much oil so as not to spoil the taste of the candies. To make lollipops, stick regular toothpicks into the still-unset caramel molds.

Do not let the sugar mixture completely harden in the pan, otherwise it will be difficult to clean later. While making the candies, keep the pan on low heat. Then, when everything is done, immediately pour hot water into it and bring to a boil and boil for 5-10 minutes so that the remaining sugar from the bottom melts. Then all you have to do is pour boiling water and clean the bottom of the pan a little.

To make the caramel more tender and tasty, you can use milk instead of water. Many people are interested in how to make caramel from cough sugar. To do this, pour sugar not with ordinary water, but with a decoction of licorice or sage. You will get lollipops with antitussive and anti-inflammatory effects. To get an interesting taste and smell, you can add a few drops of mint oil or a little vanilla to the caramel.

malinkablog.ru

How to make caramel at home

Surely you have an idea of ​​how to make caramel at home: what could be simpler - take sugar and heat it in a saucepan! However, there are small but very significant tricks in making homemade caramel. They will help avoid “sticking” of the substance to the dishes, burning and crystallization of sugar. So…

To complete this you will need:

• Sugar 1 cup
• Water 1/3 cup
• Vinegar or lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon
• Pot
• Plate
• Molds (if you don’t have them, regular tablespoons will do)

• Fill a deep plate with cold water and place the molds next to it - everything should be at hand.
• Place the pan over medium heat, add sugar and heat it until liquid. Do not stir the substance until most of the sugar has dissolved.
• When the sugar has completely melted, switch the switch to the lowest heat and lower a spoon or mold into the solution. As soon as it is full, place it in a plate of water for 10 seconds, then place it on a damp towel and move on to the next form.
• Fill the pan with water to scrape up any remaining caramel and remove the finished treats from the molds. Making your own caramel from sugar turned out to be easy, didn’t it?

And now - little tricks that will help make your sweet treat even more attractive and tasty.

Trick 1. To prevent the sugar from rolling into pieces, add a drop of vinegar or lemon juice to the pan during the heating process, then the caramel will turn out homogeneous.

Trick 2. To get transparent and voluminous caramel, pour 4-5 tablespoons of hot water into dissolved sugar. During the simmering process, a ball will swell from this water, after which you need to catch it and just wait until it cools down.

Trick 3. To give the caramel a piquant taste, after removing from the heat, add cognac or any citrus juice into it; if you add herbs, you will get homemade cough drops.

Are you wondering how to make caramel from sugar to make lollipops? This is also quite simple - you will need wooden sticks, for example, from ice cream, or, as a last resort, toothpicks (for mini caramels). When the pan is on low heat, simply wrap the thick mixture around these sticks and wait for the excess to drip off.

So we learned how to make caramel from sugar, spending a minimum of time and available materials. Now you can please both your little guests and your friends with a delicious dessert - who said adults don’t like lollipops? In the future, after good practice, you will be able to cook cockerels and other complex figures at home.

Master class on making shaped lollipops

Figured sugar caramel lollipops can be a wonderful gift for both adults and kids. You can make caramel figures, package them individually and decorate them with ribbons.

Ingredients for 9 lollipops:

• 1 tbsp. Sahara
• 2 tbsp. vinegar
• 2 tbsp. water
• Red food coloring
• Vanillin
• Barbecue sticks.
• Vegetable oil

Method for preparing figured caramel on sticks:

1 Combine sugar, vinegar and water in a saucepan. Mix everything well and put on low heat. While the mixture is on the fire, it must be stirred continuously so that the sugar does not burn to the pan. 2 When the sugar is completely melted, we add a little vanillin to it to give our caramel a delicate aroma and taste. If you don't like vanillin, you can do without it.

3 Cook the mixture until the sugar turns golden, then carefully add a little red coloring. We need to get a soft red color. The coloring has completely combined with the sugar, which means the caramel can be removed from the heat. 4 To form shaped lollipops, we will need a wide, flat dish. In our case, we use a baking sheet, but a large plate will do. The bottom of the selected dish must be greased with vegetable oil, otherwise the candies will stick.

5 Let’s start drawing the “Butterfly” lollipop. The body of our butterfly needs to be made thicker, as it will become the base for the stick. Wings can be drawn with thin lines. Then we take a kebab stick and attach it in the center of the body, pour caramel on top of the stick. Once the caramel has hardened, you can separate the candy from the baking sheet. This is done using a thin knife. In order not to break our butterfly, we need to disconnect it gradually in a circle. 6 Using the same method, we form a lollipop in the shape of a rose. And the last figure - a lollipop - will be made in the shape of a fish. 7 All that remains is to pack our caramels in beautiful bags and decorate with ribbons. Any packaging bag will do for this. It must be cut to size, melt the edges, fasten them together, place the lollipop inside and tie the ribbon beautifully.

Thus, in just half an hour we were able to prepare a very tasty caramel, and even make real gift candies from it.

lady-stories.ru

Liquid caramel: homemade recipe

Drizzling on cakes, decorating a cake, topping for ice cream, sauce for desserts - there’s a lot of uses for liquid caramel in the household! The recipe for the sticky sweet mass was invented a long time ago, more than two thousand years ago, in India. Sugar cane was crushed into porridge and, poured with water, caramel was cooked. Since that time, humanity has been enriched with dozens of types of sweets that contain caramel. These include milk candies with filling, toffees, and lollipops. And of course, everyone’s favorite cockerel on a stick since childhood. They learned to make this sweet in a handicraft way even before the revolution. You don’t need any special wisdom here: you boil a thick syrup, pour it into a greased form, cool it... But how can you make the caramel remain liquid? This art has its secrets. And we will reveal them to you in this article.

A little chemistry

First, let's figure out what caramel is. This is a French word. It means anything made from sugar cane. Chemically, caramel is glucose, sucrose and maltose. In factory production it is prepared like this. Heat sugar with starch syrup in a ratio of two to one. Sometimes an inert syrup is used. The final product in this case contains less glucose (it is partially replaced by fructose) and is more hydroscopic. Once the caramel is cooked, it is very flexible. You can create any shapes from it. But as soon as it cools down, it becomes hard. How to make liquid caramel? To do this, you need to stop the sugar crystallization process. And any acid will cope with this task. Naturally, sulfur and similar chemicals are not used in cooking. The choice of acids that are not harmful to the human stomach is small: lemon juice, vinegar, dry wine.

Liquid caramel for cake

Cooks often think: how to decorate their multi-layered masterpiece in an original way? Caramel comes to their rescue. You can give it any color you want using food coloring (but it will be healthier to leave the beautiful amber shade of melted sugar). Warm caramel is elastic, like plasticine. Under the skillful hands of the sculptor, it turns into the most intricate figures with which you can decorate a cake. Another interesting way is to apply intricate thread patterns over the egg white or buttercream while the caramel is liquid. The recipe for such a lattice is elementary. Cook thick syrup. We check the readiness with a drop: dropped into a glass of cold water, it does not dissolve, but remains a soft elastic ball. Lubricate the surface (preferably glass) with oil. We scoop out the hot caramel with a spoon and apply it to the surface in the form of a lattice, inscription and similar decorations.

Cooking liquid caramel

We have already hinted at how you can avoid sugar crystallization. But we’ll come back to lemon juice or wine later. In the meantime, put the ladle on the fire. It must have a thick bottom - this is an indispensable condition. The handle of the dish is needed for our safety - the caramel is very hot and tends to splash violently. As soon as the ladle is hot enough, pour out the sugar and pour in the water. The proportion of these two ingredients is quite simple. For every hundred grams of sweet sand, you need a spoonful of water to make liquid caramel. The recipe recommends using brown sugar, but given its considerable price, you can get by with white sugar. Do not stir - a spoon, especially a metal one, is contraindicated during the caramel-making process. Just let the sugar melt over medium heat. After a couple of minutes, the sugar will begin to melt. Liquid forms around the edges. Then carefully move the ladle in a circular motion so that the syrup captures more of the unmelted granulated sugar. When the whole mass becomes liquid, its color changes to dark amber and the aroma of caramel appears, pour in the acid. For two hundred grams of sugar, the juice of half a lemon is enough.

Liquid caramel for future use

The mass prepared according to the above recipe still thickens too much when completely cooled. How would you like to have a topping for ice cream, puddings, and pancakes at home? And for this we need liquid caramel. We provide the recipe for preserving it in a viscous mass state here. It resembles the method of making hard caramel. But if you want the mass to remain liquid, you need to make sure that the sugar is not overcooked. The mass should not be allowed to turn brownish in color. A silicone brush should be dipped into hot water from time to time and any crystals that have formed should be brushed off the wall of the ladle. If you notice that the mass has still begun to thicken too much, add a couple of tablespoons of water to it and heat it again. If the sugar has melted and turned brownish, then there is a way to save the caramel. Add a couple of tablespoons of hot water to the mixture. This must be done very carefully - there will be a lot of splashes.

Microwave cooking

There is also a method that produces delicious homemade caramel. The recipe requires stocking up on heat-resistant glass or ceramic dishes with high walls. Pour five tablespoons of water into it and place in the oven for one minute at maximum power. Add two hundred grams of sugar and mix with a wooden spoon. We put the dishes back in the oven at maximum. After about a minute, the sugar will begin to turn into syrup. We constantly keep the caramel cooking process under constant control. We regularly take out the dishes and knead with a wooden spoon. We take the moment when the caramel turns golden. Take out and add seven tablespoons of hot water. This should be done with rubber gloves and “four hands”. One person pours the water, and the second quickly stirs the mixture with a wooden spoon, trying to create a lot of air bubbles.

Toffee sauce

This creamy liquid caramel is prepared at home in the same way, in the microwave. The entire cooking process is completely identical to that described above. The only difference is that instead of seven tablespoons of hot water, we add the same amount of boiling ten percent fat cream. Toffee sauce should be stored in the refrigerator, since dairy products can sour even in very sweet environments.

Homemade orange caramel: recipe from Spain

On the Iberian Peninsula, citrus sauce is served both with desserts and with meat and poultry dishes. This caramel is made using the jam method. Pour four hundred milliliters of freshly squeezed orange juice into a saucepan. Add two hundred grams of granulated sugar. Boil until the consistency of liquid caramel. Add grated orange zest. You can also flavor the caramel with vanilla, cinnamon, and cardamom for taste. If the resulting product thickens too much when it hardens, becoming hard like citrus candy, heat it up again and add a little water. This orange sauce should be stored in a cool place. The Spaniards pour it over flans - desserts like pudding. This sauce will also go well with duck.

Flavoring additives

Are you unhappy with the sweetness of regular baked sugar? Then you can give the dish different flavors. Boiled syrup gets along well with chocolate, nuts, honey, cream, and spices. Do not forget that modern pharmaceuticals have also adopted caramel and produce numerous lozenges for coughs and sore throats. They simply add medicinal herbs to the syrup - mint, eucalyptus, etc. Chocolate caramel is the leader in popularity among children. It can be made as hard as candy. Or soft, like praline candy. By the way, you can make coffee candies in the same way. With the help of cocoa or chocolate, you can create a very tasty topping for ice cream, puddings, and profiteroles. This caramel is also good for decorating cakes and eclairs.

Homemade sweets

Instead of wasting money on a purchased product of dubious quality, let’s make our own delicious creamy caramels. They will come out looking like everyone’s favorite “Cow”. In a thick-bottomed bowl, slowly heat one glass of granulated sugar. You can stir with a wooden stick until all the crystals have melted. Add half a liter of full-fat milk or cream. Cook for about ten minutes, stirring with the same stick. At this stage, you can add some flavoring additives - for example, two soup spoons of honey, a little cocoa, nuts, vanillin. But this is all optional. And what must be added to sweets is one hundred grams of butter. Place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens. Line a baking sheet with foil or baking paper. Grease. Pour the mixture and let it cool slightly. Soft caramel cuts well. Therefore, you need to seize the moment when it is no longer liquid, but has not yet hardened.

How to cook silver carp

The caramels are sweet and sticky, with a distinct creamy-buttery aroma. I have loved butter caramel since childhood, and you probably do too, dear readers. This is such a delicacy, almost toffee, only more elastic. But not everyone knows how to make caramel at home. It is on the principle of adding fat - butter and cream - that many recipes are based, from delicate sauces to traditional caramel apples.

I bring to your attention variations on the theme - caramel popcorn (like in the cinema), apples covered with the same, creamy caramel sauce and. Everything is very simple and without a thermometer! Go ahead, have fun caramelizing!

Homemade caramel popcorn

• 250 g granulated sugar;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of water;
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice;
• package of salted microwave popcorn.

1. Start with the salted popcorn, microwave it according to the instructions, and pour it into a large bowl.
2. Pour sugar, water and lemon juice into a small saucepan with a long handle (this will make it easier to pour). The acidity in the lemon juice will prevent unwanted crystallization, so don't omit this item.
3. Wait until the sugar has completely absorbed the moisture, and then heat, stirring lightly with a silicone spatula, until the sugar becomes liquid and clear.
4. When the sugar turns into a liquid state, do not stir it or touch it. For this amount of sugar, boiling for three minutes is enough for it to start to darken.
5. After three minutes, add melted butter to it, cut it into pieces in advance. The butter will begin to melt and foam, this is normal, stir the caramel and butter until smooth and let simmer for another minute or two. Be careful, the sugar mixture is very hot!

Pour the caramel over the popcorn and stir until the caramel coating on the popcorn is completely set. It is important to stir so that the popcorn does not clump together into a single caramel mass.

How to make caramel apples

• 250 g granulated sugar;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of water (can be with dye);
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice;
• 40 g butter with a fat content of 82%;
• 6 small juicy apples.

1. and dry with a towel. Choose small fruits so that they have time to bake in hot caramel. The apples must be dry so that it does not slip off them.
2. Stick a stick into each apple; Chinese disposable sticks are great; you can even paint them to suit your taste.
3. In a small saucepan, mix sugar with water, lemon juice, and honey. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring thoroughly.
4. Next, add the oil, stir until smooth, reducing the heat slightly. Give the mixture time to get a nice caramel color, this will happen in three to four minutes. Immediately remove the pan from the heat.
5. Dip the apples into the caramel, swirling to evenly distribute the caramel layer.
6. onto a greased baking sheet until the caramel hardens completely. While the layer is still warm, sprinkle the dessert with nuts, rice balls or cereal.

How to color caramel? Dissolve a little gel dye in water (2 tablespoons) or, if you want a pink color, replace the water with beet juice. Experiment and use your imagination!

Caramel sauce

• 250 g granulated sugar;
• 1 tbsp. spoon of water;
• 100 g cream 30% fat;
• 100 g butter with a fat content of 82%;
• a pinch of sea salt.

1. Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan, stirring as if dividing the sugar mass with a silicone spatula into sectors, diamonds and zigzags.
2. When the mixture becomes liquid, let it boil for 3 minutes and then add the chopped butter. The mixture will boil and the butter will begin to melt.
3. Stir the caramel until smooth and slowly pour in the cream in a thin stream. Another 4 minutes should pass from the time you added the oil.
4. After adding salt, thoroughly stir the caramel sauce from side to side to remove any air.
5. Pour into a glass container and let cool.

Caramel sauce is wonderful for pancakes and baked apples. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Caramel toffees

Ingredients for 15-20 candies:

• 250 g granulated sugar;
• 110 g butter 82% fat;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of molasses or light honey;
• 40 g cream;
• a pinch of sea salt.

1. Heat the butter, sugar and molasses for about 4-5 minutes over medium heat until the mixture turns light brown.
2. Slowly add the cream and stir for another minute.
3. Add salt and stir, remove from heat.
4. If you have silicone pastry mat- pour caramel on it and let cool. Alternatively, a greased baking sheet will do.
5. When you can safely touch the elastic caramel mass, divide it into several oblong snakes and begin to stretch and bend, stretch-twist-bend in half. Until they begin to lighten and harden.
6. Then you can cut the caramels with a buttered knife. This way you will get cute little candies. On top I put a sprig of thyme and a lavender inflorescence, I like it that way. You can also add a few crystals of salt.