Everything You Need To Know About Caramel

3 Flavors of Caramel (yield: 1.25 c each)

Classic Vanilla Caramel
1 c (227g) heavy cream
1 c (200g) sugar
water
2.5 oz (71g) butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1. Heat heavy cream until just below a boil. Set aside.
2. In a medium size pot, add sugar and just enough water so that when stirred together the sugar will dissolve.
3. Heat until the sugar reaches a dark amber color.
4. Slowly add the warmed cream in 3 batches, stirring thoroughly after each addition.
5. Cook caramel to your desired temperature.
6. Add butter, salt, and vanilla, and mix until homogeneous.

Mocha Caramel
1 c (227g) heavy cream
2 Tbsp (12g) coffee
1 c (200g) sugar
water
1.5 oz (43g) butter
1 oz (28g) unsweetened chocolate
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1. Heat heavy cream and coffee until just below a boil. Set aside to steep for 20 minutes.
2. In a medium size pot, add sugar and just enough water so that when stirred together the sugar will dissolve.3. Heat until the sugar reaches a dark amber color.
4. Strain the coffee grounds and slowly add the warmed cream in 3 batches, stirring thoroughly after each addition.
5. Cook caramel to your desired temperature.
6. Add butter, unsweetened chocolate, salt, and vanilla, and mix until homogeneous.

Gingerbread Caramel
1 c (227g) heavy cream
1 cinnamon stick
4-6 allspice berries
4-6 whole cloves
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 c (200g) sugar
water
2.5 oz (71g) butter

1. Heat heavy cream and spices until just below a boil. Set aside and steep for 20 minutes.
2. In a medium size pot, add sugar and just enough water so that when stirred together the sugar will dissolve.3. Heat until the sugar reaches a dark amber color.
4. Strain the whole spices and slowly add the warmed cream in 3 batches, stirring thoroughly after each addition.
5. Cook caramel to your desired temperature.
6. Add butter and mix until homogeneous.

[loristrout]

use a pastry brush to wet the side of the pan with warm water it will cause the sugar crystals to liquefy and rinse the sugar down the side of the pan. have been a Chef for over 30 years.

[KaciCallahan]

Also be careful when adding the cream! as you can see it bubbles up and it can spill over. that would be a nasty burn!

[KipperTheArt]

Also for anyone who has never made caramel/melted sugar before: BE CAREFUL. It's burning hot and it hardens on your skin immediately. One of my worst scars is from getting some on my hand while cooking.

[chelseaw]

Something that’s never failed me is having the lid on the saucepan at the beginning and allow the condensation to rinse down all the sides first, before taking the lid off. Always works!

[johnporter]

Pro tip: Cream of tartar helps prevents crystalization. Helps with larger batches and with syrups as well. So if you find yourself in a situation where you making several jars at a time for what ever reason you know a trick to make it easier.

[bumblebee]

I love making caramel. You know what else you can add? Juice reductions for like... apple caramel or cranberry caramel. So nice!

[drgonrasa]

Also, if you have a hard time removing leftovers/burnt parts from your pan, just add water and let it come to a boil.
That will usually dissolve any sugar leftovers(even burnt ones) and make it really easy to clean

[eomuk]

a great trick i’ve learned in school is to place a sheet tray/pan on top of ur pot and the natural steam from the heating sugar and water will create condensation which will automatically clean the sides of the saucepan and you don’t have to have a brush to wipe it down or worry about crystallization. just take it off once it’s all dissolved though and you begging to develop color so you can keep an eye on it!

[tabithag]

One might call me a heathen but I’ve been making caramel for 10+ years and I put all my ingredients except vanilla in at the beginning and just boil it up to temperature. It works well and I end up with delicious caramel every time.

Also using corn syrup can prevent crystallization.

[malaineeward]

My mom and dad both made caramel a few years ago. My mom and I made it first and we got some nice gooey ish candies out of it. A few weeks later my dad tried it out and he must have used a much higher temperature cause his were rock hard! Still tasted good though.

[Winter]

If you don’t have a thermometer, take a spoon and drop a little into some ice water, and take it between your fingers or your teeth. If you’re going for soft caramel, it’ll set up a bit harder than what you tested, but what you’re looking for is just something that becomes stringy and not cloudy, and the wet method is almost definitely easier to do, as long as you wash the sides down with a wet pastry brush

[nobandfan]

Straight and to the point. Now if you could turn down the background music by like half, it would be perfect.

[carolyntalbot]

My mom used to make sticky, gooey caramel popcorn balls this way, delicious!

[nikbjork]

This was really easy to follow and very informative, I never knew ab the temp thing for caramel. I think I may have to make some later today. Also do you know what effect using different types of sugar has on the final product? Thanks for the great vid bro.

[veramuses]

I don't know how I ended upbon your channel as I've not watch many baking things, but I'm happy because this makes me want to get back into baking.

[_Cambria_]

I wish YouTube would let us save shorts so I can try this later, I have to open the link in chrome and bookmark it. I used to work for a candy shop where we'd make caramel in a giant copper pan to dip apples in and make them gourmet (roll in pecans and drizzle with in dark, milk and white chocolate for example) and I completely forgot how we did it. Using store bought caramel just isn't the same. I'll definitely be trying this to dip some apples in 😊

[_star_reviews]

Now add some pecans and you’ve just made a chewy praline candy. 😋

[lindaobrien]

Sugar burns very quickly, it goes from
the amber color to burned. Also don't get it on your skin. Be careful when stirring!

[roondoger]

Honestly never thought about making caramel, but if I did I would hope to find a video just like this for an educational video that has clear and concise steps. Fantastic job.

[billybobjoe]

It’s always so cool seeing videos like these suddenly just blow up between the last and most recent time you looked at it