– **Sauce:**
– Caramel sauce is made by mixing caramelized sugar with cream.
– Additional ingredients like butter, fruit purees, liquors, or vanilla can be used based on the application.
– Caramel sauce is commonly used as a topping for desserts, especially ice cream.
– Clear caramel, used in crème caramel or flan, contains only caramelized sugar and water.
– Butterscotch sauce comprises brown sugar, butter, and cream, traditionally associated with toffee.
– **Candy:**
– Caramel candy is a soft, chewy treat made by boiling a mixture of milk, sugar, glucose, butter, and vanilla.
– The mixture is heated to specific temperatures to achieve the desired consistency and flavor.
– Milk caramel or cream caramel is a type of caramel candy that does not reach the caramelization stage of sugar.
– Toffee and butterscotch share similarities with caramel candy but differ in ingredients and cooking techniques.
– Toffee and butterscotch use molasses or brown sugar, while caramel uses white sugar and is cooked at different temperatures.
– **Salting:**
– Salted caramel was invented in 1977 by French pastry chef Henri Le Roux, using salted butter caramel with crushed nuts.
– It gained popularity in France and other European countries, becoming a common snack for children.
– Salted caramel expanded beyond desserts into beverages like hot chocolate and spirits.
– The addition of salt to caramel and chocolate dishes became a trend among high-end chefs.
– Salted caramel’s appeal may be linked to its impact on the brain’s reward system, leading to hedonic escalation.
– **Colouring:**
– Caramel coloring is a concentrated product of caramelization, used as a food and beverage coloring agent.
– It is a dark, bitter liquid derived from near-total caramelization.
– Caramel coloring is commonly used in commercial products like cola.
– **Chemistry:**
– Caramelization involves the removal of water from sugar, leading to the formation of high-molecular-weight compounds.
– Different forms of caramel, such as sauce or candy, result from varying ingredients and preparation temperatures.
– Glucose or invert sugar is often added in modern recipes to prevent crystallization.
– Heating sucrose and water together can produce invert sugar, but may not prevent crystallization in traditional recipes.
Caramel (/ˈkærəmɛl/ or /ˈkɑːrməl/) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, or as a topping for ice cream and custard.
 A saucer of liquid caramel | |
| Course | Dessert or snack |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Unknown |
| Created by | Various |
| Main ingredients | Sugar |
| Variations | Brittles, pralines, crème brûlée, and crème caramel |
The process of caramelization consists of heating sugar slowly to around 170 °C (340 °F). As the sugar heats, the molecules break down and re-form into compounds with a characteristic colour and flavour.
A variety of candies, desserts, toppings, and confections are made with caramel: brittles, nougats, pralines, flan, crème brûlée, crème caramel, and caramel apples. Ice creams sometimes are flavored with or contain swirls of caramel.