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To Make Caramel for Cakes and Puddings
Put onehalf cup of granulated sugar and two tablespoons of water into a shallow granite pan, stir until the sugar has melted, then let it cook without stirring until it is dark brown, but do not let it blacken or burn. Add one-half cup of boiling water, and simmer until the sugar is dissolved and cooked to a thin syrup. CHAPTER XIX—DOUGHNUTS, CRULLERS, GINGER-
This is burnt-sugar syrup, a flavoring and coloring kept on hand rather than a dish in itself. The whole thing hinges on how far you take the color before the water goes in.
- Granite pan"Granite" or "graniteware" is enameled steel, common in 1900 kitchens. Any heavy-bottomed light-colored saucepan works; a light interior lets you judge the color, which is the only real gauge here.
- Stir, then stopStirring after the sugar has liquefied encourages crystallization and streaking. Once it is melted, leave it alone and swirl the pan instead if the color is developing unevenly.
- How dark is dark brownAim for the color of strong coffee. A shade past that turns acrid and no amount of sugar in the cake will hide it. Judge by eye, as the recipe intends; pull the pan off the heat a moment early, since the residual heat keeps the sugar cooking.
- The boiling water is not optionalCold water added to sugar at that temperature will spatter violently and set the caramel into a hard lump that then has to be simmered back into solution. Have the half cup at a full boil, add it at arm's length, and expect a burst of steam.
- Simmer to a thin syrupA few minutes is enough; you want it to pour like maple syrup when cool, not thicken toward a candy stage. If it sets too stiff, add a spoonful of boiling water and reheat.
- Yield and keepingRoughly half a cup of syrup, depending on how far you reduce it. Bottled and capped it keeps well, though a syrup this thin can crystallize or spoil eventually; cool storage is safer.
- How it was usedA teaspoon or two colors and flavors a caramel frosting or a boiled pudding sauce, the uses the title points to. Used in such small amounts it contributes more color and burnt-sugar flavor than sweetness.