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

FAQs

What makes caramel harder? ›

If the caramel forms a pliable soft ball, for instance, it's around 240°F. If it forms a hard ball, it's between 250°F to 260°F, etc. Sometimes recipes will even use the descriptors below to specify the stage your caramel should be cooked to. Hard toffee, brittle, etc.

Increasing reducing sugars will add to the flavor and color of caramel – but too much can cause excessive stickiness. Check the pH of premix, water and other ingredients, including scrap, to identify excessive inversion as the problem. Caramel premix should have a neutral pH (6.8-7.0).

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.

Sure, there are additional ingredients that add flavor like vanilla extract, butter, and heavy cream, but the real star of the show is the cooked sugar. This means that in order for your caramels to develop a robust flavor, the sugar needs to be cooked until it's deeply caramelized.

Add acid. Acid ingredients (like vinegar or lemon juice) can help prevent re-crystallization which causes caramel to become grainy. Acid physically breaks the bonds between the glucose and fructose molecules that form sucrose and ensure that it stays apart.

There are two methods to make a caramel: dry and wet. In some instances, sugar is heated in a pan solo and allowed to melt, cook, and caramelize without the help of any other ingredient.

Stirring the sugar

If the melting sugar splashes up onto the sides of the pan, it quickly loses its moisture content and forms back into crystals. That can set off a chain reaction that can cause caramel to seize up, ruining the entire batch.

You can test to see whether your caramel is done by having a bowl of cold water (we recommend adding ice cubes if you have them to hand) and then using a spoon, remove some of the mixture from the pan, immerse the spoon into the cold water, moving the spoon and then remove from the water and test the caramel with your ...

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.

How to turn hard caramel into soft caramel? ›

If caramels are too hard, you can try placing them back in a saucepan, adding a couple tablespoons of water and stirring until the thermometer reads 242°F. Pour back into a prepared buttered pan.

Refrigerate until cooled and hardened. (Best if you refrigerate them overnight, or for several hours. They will be easier to cut and wrap). The caramel will seem hard in the fridge after they're set, but they should be soft at room temperature.

To thicken a caramel sauce, use one tablespoon of cornstarch or tapioca starch (sometimes known as tapioca flour) and one tablespoon of water per cup of caramel. Then simmer the caramel, stirring it constantly with a wooden spoon until it becomes thick.

The idea is to lower the PH. you can also use a small pinch of citric acid or cream of tartar if you have. lemon juice won't work as it will turn bitter as the sugar cooks. Alternatively, an invert sugar such as corn syrup or golden syrup will work beautifully.

Cut waxed paper for caramel wrappers -

In general the paper sold for home use is too light weight, the grain of the paper isn't made to withstand twisting (it tears), and the wax coating is too light to prevent the moisture from the candy from seaping into the paper and weakening it thus causing it to tear and stick.